LOKESH RC 55

This file comprises a wide range of quality Reading Comprehension

passages (RCs) and equally worthy questions (those asked in exams like
CAT/ XAT/ GMAT/ MHCET) from topics like Inference, Strengthening,
Weakening, Main Idea, Conclusion, Next Idea, Application, Fact, Tone,
Title etc. After every RC, you will find the link to the practice
session where I have thoroughly explained the RC& all questions
in a live class. Hence, be assured that you have the video solutions to
all of these 55 RCs.

I suggest that you practice 3-5 RCs in one sitting and keep 3-4 such
sittings per week, depending on your stamina and maturity as an
aspirant. You may start with 2 sittings/week, each of 3 RCs, and
gradually increase to 4 sittings of 5 RCs every week. Remember, most of
the questions in the VARC sections of CAT (70%), XAT, NMAT, GMAT and
MHCET are asked in the form of an RC. There is no way you can excel in
the VARC sections of these exams without mastering RCs. NO WAY!

I take such free practice sessions LIVE (RC, CR, Para jumbles, Summary
etc.) almost daily @ 8pm/9 pm on Unacademy app or YT channel. Also,
join my Telegram group for free content, GK bites, exam updates,
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PS: The answer key to all RCs has been provided in a separate pdf
file shared along with this one.

IMPORTANT: I had shared a similar compilation of 125 RCs last

year and another compilation of 125 Critical Reasoning Questions
Lokesh RC 125: https://t.me/Lokesh_varc/26914
Lokesh CR 125: https://t.me/Lokesh_varc/26914
Disclaimer: We do not claim to be the original creators of these RCs
1
RC 1

Traditionally, the study of history has had fixed boundaries and focal points—periods,
countries, dramatic events, and great leaders. It also has had clear and firm notions of
scholarly procedure: how one inquires into a historical problem, how one presents and
documents one’s findings, what constitutes admissible and adequate proof.

Anyone who has followed recent historical literature can testify to the revolution that is taking
place in historical studies. The currently fashionable subjects come directly from the sociology
catalog: childhood, work, leisure. The new subjects are accompanied by new methods. Where
history once was primarily narrative, it is now entirely analytic. The old questions “What
happened?” and “How did it happen?” have given way to the question “Why did it happen?”
Prominent among the methods used to answer the question “Why” is psychoanalysis, and its
use has given rise to psychohistory.

Psychohistory does not merely use psychological explanations in historical contexts.

Historians have always used such explanations when they were appropriate and when there
was sufficient evidence for them. But this pragmatic use of psychology is not what
psychohistorians intend. They are committed, not just to psychology in general, but to
Freudian psychoanalysis. This commitment precludes a commitment to history as historians
have always understood it. Psychohistory derives its “facts” not from history, the detailed
records of events and their consequences, but from psychoanalysis of the individuals who
made history, and deduces its theories not from this or that instance in their lives, but from a
view of human nature that transcends history. It denies the basic criterion of historical
evidence: that evidence be publicly accessible to, and therefore assessable by, all historians.
And it violates the basic tenet of historical method: that historians be alert to the negative
instances that would refute their theses. Psychohistorians, convinced of the absolute
rightness of their own theories, are also convinced that theirs is the “deepest” explanation of
any event, that other explanations fall short of the truth.

Psychohistory is not content to violate the discipline of history (in the sense of the proper
mode of studying and writing about the past); it also violates the past itself. It denies to the
past an integrity and will of its own, in which people acted out of a variety of motives and in
which events had a multiplicity of causes and effects. It imposes upon the past the same
determinism that it imposes upon the present, thus robbing people and events of their
individuality and of their complexity.

Instead of respecting the particularity of the past, it assimilates all events, past and present,
into a single deterministic schema that is presumed to be true at all times and in all
circumstances.
2
1. Which of the following best states the main point of the passage?

(A) The approach of psychohistorians to historical study is currently in vogue even though it
lacks the rigor and verifiability of traditional historical method.
(B) Traditional historians can benefit from studying the techniques and findings of
psychohistorians.
(C) Areas of sociological study such as childhood and work are of little interest to traditional
historians.
(D) Psychological assessment of an individual’s behavior & attitudes is more informative than
details of his/her life
(E) History is composed of unique and non-repeating events that must be individually
analyzed on the basis of publicly verifiable evidence.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that one way in which traditional history can be
distinguished from psychohistory is that traditional history usually
(A) views past events as complex and having their own individuality
(B) relies on a single interpretation of human behavior to explain historical events
(C) interprets historical events in such a way that their specific nature is transcended
(D) turns to psychological explanations in historical contexts to account for events
(E) relies strictly on data that are concrete and quantifiable

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the methods used by psychohistorians probably
prevent them from

(A) presenting their material in chronological order

(B) producing a one-sided picture of an individual’s personality and motivations
(C) uncovering alternative explanations that might cause them to question their own
conclusions
(D) offering a consistent interpretation of the impact of personality on historical events
(E) recognizing connections between a government’s political actions and the aspirations of
government leaders

4. The passage supplies information for answering which of the following questions?

(A) What are some specific examples of the use of psychohistory in historicalinterpretation?
(B) When were the conventions governing the practice of traditional history first established?
(C) When do traditional historians consider psychological explanations of historical
developments appropriate?
(D) What sort of historical figure is best suited for psychohistorical analysis?
(E) What is the basic criterion of historical evidence required by traditional historians?

5. The author mentions which of the following as a characteristic of the practice of

psychohistorians?
(A) The lives of historical figures are presented in episodic rather than narrative form.
(B) Archives used by psychohistorians to gather material are not accessible to other scholars.
(C) Past and current events are all placed within the same deterministic schema.
(D) Events in adult life of a historical figure are seen to be more consequential than are those
in childhood of figure.
(E) Analysis is focused on group behavior rather than on particular events in an individual’s
life.
3
6. The author of the passage suggests that psychohistorians view history primarily as
(A) Report of events, causes, & effects that is generally accepted by historians but which is,
for most part,unverifiable
(B) an episodic account that lacks cohesion because records of the role of childhood, work,
and leisure in the lives of historical figures are rare
(C) an uncharted sea of seemingly unexplainable events that have meaning only when
examined as discrete units
(D) a record of the way in which a closed set of immutable psychological laws seems to have
shaped events
(E) a proof of the existence of intricate causal interrelationships between past and present
events

7. The author of the passage puts the word “deepest” in quotation marks most probably in
order to
(A) signal her reservations about the accuracy of psychohistorians’ claims for their work
(B) draw attention to a contradiction in the psychohistorians’ method
(C) emphasize the major difference between the traditional historians’ method and that of
psychohistorians
(D) disassociate her opinion of the psychohistorians’ claims from her opinion of their method
(E) question the usefulness of psychohistorians’ insights into traditional historical scholarship

8. In presenting her analysis, the author does all of the following EXCEPT:
(A) Make general statement without reference to specific examples.
(B) Describe some of the criteria employed by traditional historians.
(C) Question the adequacy of the psychohistorians’ interpretation of events.
(D) Point out inconsistencies in the psychohistorians’ application of their methods.
(E) Contrast the underlying assumptions of psychohistorians with those of traditional
historians.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-1/TR1P5P7M

4
RC 2

Two relatively recent independent developments stand behind the current major research
effort on nitrogen fixation, the process by which bacteria symbiotically render leguminous
plants independent of nitrogen fertilizer. The one development has been the rapid, sustained
increase in the price of nitrogen fertilizer. The other development has been the rapid growth
of knowledge of and technical sophistication in genetic engineering. Fertilizer prices, largely
tied to the price of natural gas, huge amounts of which go into the manufacture of fertilizer,
will continue to represent an enormous and escalating economic burden on modern
agriculture, spurring the search for alternatives to synthetic fertilizers. And genetic
engineering is just the sort of fundamental breakthrough that opens up prospects of wholly
novel alternatives. One such novel idea is that of inserting into the chromosomes of plants
discrete genes that are not a part of the plants’ natural constitution: specifically, the idea of
inserting into nonleguminous plants the genes, if they can be identified and isolated, that fit
the leguminous plants to be hosts for nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Hence, the intensified research
on legumes.

Nitrogen fixation is a process in which certain bacteria use atmospheric nitrogen gas, which
green plants cannot directly utilize, to produce ammonia, a nitrogen compound plants can
use. It is one of nature’s great ironies that the availability of nitrogen in the soil frequently
sets an upper limit on plant growth even though the plants’ leaves are bathed in a sea of
nitrogen gas. The leguminous plants—among them crop plants such as soybeans, peas,
alfalfa, and clover—have solved the nitrogen supply problem by entering into a symbiotic
relationship with the bacterial genus Rhizobium; as a matter of fact, there is a specific strain
of Rhizobium for each species of legume. The host plant supplies the bacteria with food and a
protected habitat and receives surplus ammonia in exchange. Hence, legumes can thrive in
nitrogen-depleted soil.

Unfortunately, most of the major food crops—including maize, wheat, rice, and potatoes—
cannot. On the contrary, many of the high-yielding hybrid varieties of these food crops bred
during the Green Revolution of the 1960’s were selected specifically to give high yields in
response to generous applications of nitrogen fertilizer. This poses an additional, formidable
challenge to plant geneticists: they must work on enhancing fixation within the existing
symbioses. Unless they succeed, the yield gains of the Green Revolution will be largely lost
even if the genes in legumes that equip those plants to enter into a symbiosis with nitrogen
fixers are identified and isolated, and even if the transfer of those gene complexes, once they
are found, becomes possible. The overall task looks forbidding, but the stakes are too high
not to undertake it.
5
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) expose the fragile nature of the foundations on which the high yields of modern
agriculture rest
(B) argue that genetic engineering promises to lead to even higher yields than are achievable
with synthetic fertilizers
(C) argue that the capacity for nitrogen-fixing symbioses is transferable to nonleguminous
plants
(D) explain the reasons for and the objectives of current research on nitrogen-fixing
symbioses
(E) describe the nature of the genes that regulate the symbiosis between legumes and certain
bacteria

2. According to the passage, there is currently no strain of Rhizobium that can enter into a
symbiosis with
(A) Alfalfa (B) clover (C) maize (D) peas (E) soybeans

3. The passage implies that which of the following is true of the bacterial genus Rhizobium?

(A) Rhizobium bacteria are found primarily in nitrogen-depleted soils.

(B) Some strains of Rhizobium are not capable of entering into a symbiosis with any plant.
(C) Newly bred varieties of legumes cannot be hosts to any strain of Rhizobium.
(D) Rhizobium bacteria cannot survive outside the protected habitat provided by host plants.
(E) Rhizobium bacteria produce some ammonia for their own purposes.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following was the most influential
factor in bringing about intensified research on nitrogen fixation?
(A) The high yields of the Green Revolution
(B) The persistent upward surge in natural gas prices
(C) The variety of Rhizobium strains
(D) The mechanization of modern agriculture
(E) The environmental ill effects of synthetic fertilizers

5. Which of the following situations is most closely analogous to the situation described by
the author as one of nature’s great ironies?
(A) That of a farmer whose crops have failed because the normal midseason rains did not
materialize and no preparations for irrigation had been made
(B) That of a long-distance runner who loses a marathon race because of a wrong turn that
cost him twenty seconds
(C) That of shipwrecked sailors at sea in a lifeboat, with one flask of drinking water to share
among them
(D) That of a motorist who runs out of gas a mere five miles from the nearest gas station
(E) That of travelers who want to reach their destination as fast & as cheaply as possible, but
find that cost increases as travel speed increases

6. According to the passage, the ultimate goal of the current research on nitrogen fixation is
to develop
(A) strains of Rhizobium that can enter into symbioses with existing varieties of wheat, rice,
and other nonlegumes
(B) strains of Rhizobium that produce more ammonia for leguminous host plants than do any
6

of the strains presently known

(C) varieties of wheat, rice, & other nonlegumes that yield as much as do existing varieties,
but require less nitrogen
(D) varieties of wheat, rice, and other nonlegumes that maintain an adequate symbiotic
relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and produce high yields
(E) high-yielding varieties of wheat, rice, and other nonlegumes that are genetically equipped
to fix nitrogen from the air without the aid of bacteria

7. The author regards the research program under discussion as

(A) original and extensive but ill-defined as to method
(B) necessary and ambitious but vulnerable to failure
(C) cogent and worthwhile but severely under-funded
(D) prohibitively expensive but conceptually elegant
(E) theoretically fascinating but practically useless

8. Most nearly parallel, in its fundamental approach, to research program described in the
passage would be a program designed to
(A) achieve greater frost resistance in frost-tender food plants by means of selective
breeding, thereby expanding those plants’ area of cultivation
(B) achieve greater yields from food plants by interplanting crop plants that are mutually
beneficial
(C) find inexpensive & abundant natural substances that could, without reducing yields, be
substituted for expensive syntheticfertilizers
(D) change the genetic makeup of food plants that cannot live in water with high salinity,
using genes from plants adapted to saltwater
(E) develop, through genetic engineering, a genetic configuration for the major food plants
that improves the storage characteristics of the edible portion of the plants

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-2/0RYIN6AG

7
RC 3

Ragtime is a musical form that synthesizes folk melodies and musical techniques into a brief
quadrille-like structure, designed to be played—exactly as written—on the piano. A strong
analogy exists between European composers like Ralph Vaughan Williams, Edvard Grieg, and
Anton Dvorak who combined folk tunes and their own original materials in larger
compositions and the pioneer ragtime composers in the United States. Composers like Scott
Joplin and James Scott were in a sense collectors or musicologists, collecting dance and folk
music in Black communities and consciously shaping it into brief suites or anthologies called
piano rags.

It has sometimes been charged that ragtime is mechanical. For instance, Wilfred Mellers
comments, “rags were transferred to the pianola roll and, even if not played by a machine,
should be played like a machine, with meticulous precision.” However, there is no reason to
assume that ragtime is inherently mechanical simply because commercial manufacturers
applied a mechanical recording method to ragtime, the only way to record pianos at that
date.

Ragtime’s is not a mechanical precision, and it is not precision limited to the style of
performance. It arises from ragtime’s following a well-defined form and obeying simple rules
within that form.

The classic formula for the piano rag disposes three to five themes in sixteen-bar strains,
often organized with repeats. The rag opens with a bright, memorable strain or theme,
followed by a similar theme, leading to a trio of marked lyrical character, with the structure
concluded by a lyrical strain that parallels the rhythmic developments of the earlier themes.
The aim of the structure is to rise from one theme to another in a stair-step manner, ending
on a note of triumph or exhilaration.

Typically, each strain is divided into two 8-bar segments that are essentially alike, so the
rhythmic-melodic unit of ragtime is only eight bars of 2/4 measure.

Therefore, themes must be brief with clear, sharp melodic figures. Not concerned with
development of musical themes, the ragtime composer instead sets a theme down intact, in
finished form, and links it to various related themes. Tension in ragtime compositions arises
from a polarity between two basic ingredients: a continuous bass—called by jazz musicians a
boom-chick bass—in the pianist’s left hand, and its melodic, syncopated counterpart in the
right hand.

Ragtime remains distinct from jazz both as an instrumental style and as a genre. Ragtime
style stresses a pattern of repeated rhythms, not the constant inventions and variations of
jazz. As a genre, ragtime requires strict attention to structure, not inventiveness or virtuosity.
It exists as a tradition, a set of conventions, a body of written scores, separate from the
individual players associated with it. In this sense ragtime is more akin to folk music of the
nineteenth century than to jazz.
8
1. Which of the following best describes the main purpose of the passage?

(A) To contrast ragtime music and jazz

(B) To acknowledge and counter significant adverse criticisms of ragtime music
(C) To define ragtime music as an art form and describe its structural characteristics
(D) To review the history of ragtime music and analyze ragtime’s effect on listeners
(E) To explore the similarities between ragtime music and certain European musical
compositions

2. Each of the following is a characteristic of ragtime compositions that follow the classic
ragtime formula EXCEPT:
(A) syncopation
(B) well-defined melodic figures
(C) rising rhythmic-melodic intensity
(D) full development of musical themes
(E) a bass line distinct from the melodic line

3. Ralph Vaughan Williams, Anton Dvorak, and Scott Joplin are similar in that they all
(A) conducted research into musicological history
(B) wrote original compositions based on folk tunes
(C) collected and recorded abbreviated piano suites
(D) created intricate sonata-like musical structures
(E) explored the relations between Black music and continental folk music

4. The author rejects the argument that ragtime is a mechanical music because that
argument
(A) overlooks the precision required of the ragtime player
(B) does not accurately describe the sound of ragtime pianola music
(C) confuses the means of recording and the essential character of the music
(D) exaggerates the influence of the performance style of professional ragtime players on the
reputation of the genre
(E) improperly identifies commercial ragtime music with the subtler classic ragtime style

5. It can be inferred that the author of the passage believes that the most important feature
of ragtime music is its
(A) commercial success
(B) formal structure
(C) emotional range
(D) improvisational opportunities
(E) role as a forerunner of jazz

6. It can be inferred from passage that the essential nature of ragtime has been obscured by
commentaries based on
(A) the way ragtime music was first recorded
(B) interpretations of ragtime by jazz musicians
(C) the dance fashions that were contemporary with ragtime
(D) early reviewers’ accounts of characteristic structure
(E) the musical sources used by Scott Joplin and James Scott
9
7. Which of the following is most nearly analogous in source and artistic character to a
ragtime composition ?
(A) Symphonic music derived from complex jazz motifs
(B) An experimental novel based on well-known cartoon characters
(C) A dramatic production in which actors invent scenes and improvise lines
(D) A ballet whose disciplined choreography is based on folk-dance steps
(E) A painting whose abstract shapes evoke familiar objects in a natural landscape

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-3/FSS8MYUT

10
RC 4

Flatfish, such as the flounder, are among the few vertebrates that lack approximate bilateral
symmetry (symmetry in which structures to the left and right of the body’s midline are mirror
images). Most striking among the many asymmetries evident in an adult flatfish is eye
placement: before maturity one eye migrates, so that in an adult flatfish both eyes are on the
same side of the head. While in most species with asymmetries virtually all adults share the
same asymmetry, members of the starry flounder species can be either left-eyed (both eyes
on the left side of head) or right-eyed. In the waters between the United States and Japan,
the starry flounder populations vary from about 50 percent left-eyed off the United States
West Coast, through about 70 percent left-eyed halfway between the United States and
Japan, to nearly 100 percent left-eyed off the Japanese coast.

Biologists call this kind of gradual variation over a certain geographic range a “cline” and
interpret clines as strong indications that the variation is adaptive, a response to
environmental differences. For the starry flounder this interpretation implies that a geometric
difference (between fish that are mirror images of one another) is adaptive, that left-
eyedness in the Japanese starry flounder has been selected for, which provokes a perplexing
questions: what is the selective advantage in having both eyes on one side rather than on the
other?

The ease with which a fish can reverse the effect of the sidedness of its eye asymmetry
simply by turning around has caused biologists to study internal anatomy, especially the optic
nerves, for the answer. In all flatfish the optic nerves cross, so that the right optic nerve is
joined to the brain’s left side and vice versa. This crossing introduces an asymmetry, as one
optic nerve must cross above or below the other. G. H. Parker reasoned that if, for example,
a flatfish’s left eye migrated when the right optic nerve was on top, there would be a twisting
of nerves, which might be mechanically disadvantageous. For starry flounders, then, the left-
eyed variety would be selected against, since in a starry flounder the left optic nerve is
uppermost.

The problem with the above explanation is that the Japanese starry flounder population is
almost exclusively left-eyed, an natural selection never promotes a purely less advantageous
variation. As other explanations proved equally untenable, biologists concluded that there is
no important adaptive difference between left-eyedness and right-eyedness, and that the two
characteristics are genetically associated with some other adaptively significant characteristic.

This situation is one commonly encountered by evolutionary biologists, who must often
decide whether a characteristic is adaptive or selectively neutral. As for the left-eyed and
right-eyed flatfish, their difference, however striking, appears to be an evolutionary red
herring.
11
1. According to the passage, starry flounder differ from most other species of flatfish in that
starry flounder

(A) are not basically bilaterally symmetric

(B) do not become asymmetric until adulthood
(C) do not all share the same asymmetry
(D) have both eyes on the same side of the head
(E) tend to cluster in only certain geographic regions

2. The author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about left-
eyedness and right-eyedness in the starry flounder?
I. They are adaptive variations by the starry flounder to environmental differences.
II. They do not seem to give obvious selective advantages to the starry flounder.
III. They occur in different proportions in different locations.

(A) I only (B) II only (C) I and III only (D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III

3. According to passage, a possible disadvantage associated with eye migration in flatfish is

that the optic nerves can

(A) adhere to one another

(B) detach from the eyes
(C) cross
(D) stretch
(E) twist

4. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage as a whole?
(A) A phenomenon is described and an interpretation presented and rejected.
(B) A generalization is made and supporting evidence is supplied and weighed.
(C) A contradiction is noted and a resolution is suggested and then modified.
(D) A series of observations is presented and explained in terms of the dominant theory.
(E) A hypothesis is introduced and corroborated in the light of new evidence.

5. The passage supplies information for answering which of the following questions?
(A) Why are Japanese starry flounder mostly left-eyed?
(B) Why should the eye-sidedness in starry flounder be considered selectively neutral?
(C) Why have biologists recently become interested in whether a characteristic is adaptive or
selectively neutral?
(D) How do the eyes in flatfish migrate?
(E) How did Parker make his discoveries about the anatomy of optic nerves in flatfish?

6. Which of the following is most clearly similar to a cline as it is described in the second
paragraph of the passage?
(A) A vegetable market in which the various items are grouped according to place of origin
(B) A wheat field in which different varieties of wheat are planted to yield a crop that will
bring the maximum profit
(C) A flower stall in which the various species of flowers are arranged according to their price
(D) A housing development in which the length of front struts supporting the porch of each
12

house increases as houses are built up the hill

(E) A national park in which the ranger stations are placed so as to be inconspicuous, and yet
as easily accessible as possible

7. Which of the following phrases best expresses the author’s conclusion about the meaning
of the difference between left-eyed and right-eyed flatfish?
(A) “Most striking”
(B) “variation is adaptive”
(C) “mechanically disadvantageous”
(D) “adaptively significant”
(E) “evolutionary red herring”

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-4/JJDP7YIX

13
RC 5

Until about five years ago, the very idea that peptide hormones might be made anywhere in
the brain besides the hypothalamus was astounding. Peptide hormones, scientists thought,
were made by endocrine glands and the hypothalamus was thought to be the brains’ only
endocrine gland. What is more, because peptide hormones cannot cross the blood-brain
barrier, researchers believed that they never got to any part of the brain other than the
hypothalamus, where they were simply produced and then released into the bloodstream.

But these beliefs about peptide hormones were questioned as laboratory after laboratory
found that antiserums to peptide hormones, when injected into the brain, bind in places other
than the hypothalamus, indicating that either the hormones or substances that cross-react
with the antiserums are present. The immunological method of detecting peptide hormones
by means of antiserums, however, is imprecise. Cross-reactions are possible and this method
cannot determine whether the substances detected by the antiserums really are the
hormones, or merely close relatives.

Furthermore, this method cannot be used to determine the location in the body where the
detected substances are actually produced.

New techniques of molecular biology, however, provide a way to answer these questions. It is
possible to make specific complementary DNA’s (cDNA’s) that can serve as molecular probes
to seek out the messenger RNA’s (mRNA’s) of the peptide hormones. If brain cells are making
the hormones, the cells will contain these mRNA’s. If the products the brain cells make
resemble the hormones but are not identical to them, then the cDNA’s should still bind to
these mRNA’s, but should not bind as tightly as they would to mRNA’s for the true hormones.
The cells containing these mRNA’s can then be isolated and their mRNA’s decoded to
determine just what their protein products are and how closely the products resemble the
true peptide hormones.

The molecular approach to detecting peptide hormones using cDNA probes should also be
much faster than the immunological method because it can take years of tedious purifications
to isolate peptide hormones and then develop antiserums to them. Roberts, expressing the
sentiment of many researchers, states: “I was trained as an endocrinologist. But it became
clear to me that the field of endocrinology needed molecular biology input. The process of
grinding out protein purifications is just too slow.”

If, as the initial tests with cDNA probes suggest, peptide hormones really are made in the
brain in areas other than the hypothalamus, a theory must be developed that explains their
function in the brain. Some have suggested that the hormones are all growth regulators, but
Rosen’s work on rat brains indicates that this cannot be true. A number of other researchers
propose that they might be used for intercellular communication in the brain.
14
1. Which of the following titles best summarizes the passage?

(A) Is Molecular Biology the Key to Understanding Intercellular Communication in the Brain?
(B) Molecular Biology: Can Researchers Exploit Its Techniques to Synthesize Peptide
Hormones?
(C) The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Immunological Approach to Detecting Peptide
Hormones
(D) Peptide Hormones: How Scientists Are Attempting to Solve Problems of Their Detection &
to Understand Their Function
(E) Peptide Hormones: The Role Played by Messenger RNA’s in Their Detection

2. The passage suggests that a substance detected in the brain by use of antiserums to
peptide hormones may
(A) have been stored in the brain for a long period of time
(B) play no role in the functioning of the brain
(C) have been produced in some part of the body other than the brain
(D) have escaped detection by molecular methods
(E) play an important role in the functioning of the hypothalamus

3. According to the passage, confirmation of the belief that peptide hormones are made in the
brain in areas other than the hypothalamus would force scientists to
(A) reject the theory that peptide hormones are made by endocrine glands
(B) revise their beliefs about the ability of antiserums to detect peptide hormones
(C) invent techniques that would allow them to locate accurately brain cells that produce
peptide hormones
(D) search for techniques that would enable them to distinguish peptide hormones from their
close relatives
(E) develop a theory that explains the role played by peptide hormones in the brain4. Which
of the following is mentioned in the passage as a drawback of the immunological method of
detecting peptide hormones?

4. Which of the following is mentioned in the passage as a drawback of the immunological

method of detecting peptide hormones?
(A) It cannot be used to detect the presence of growth regulators in the brain.
(B) It cannot distinguish between the peptide hormones and substances that are very similar
to them.
(C) It uses antiserums that are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier.
(D) It involves a purification process that requires extensive training in endocrinology.
(E) It involves injecting foreign substances directly into the bloodstream.

5. The passage implies that, in doing research on rat brains, Rosen discovered that
(A) peptide hormones are used for intercellular communication
(B) complementary DNA’s do not bind to cells producing peptide hormones
(C) products closely resembling peptide hormones are not identical to peptide hormones
(D) some peptide hormones do not function as growth regulators
(E) antiserums cross-react with substances that are not peptide hormones

6. Which of following is a way in which immunological method of detecting peptide hormones

15

differs from molecular method

(A) The immunological method uses substances that react with products of hormone-
producing cells, whereas the molecular method uses substances that react with a specific
component of the cells themselves.
(B) The immunological method has produced results consistent with long-held beliefs about
peptide hormones, whereas the molecular method has produced results that upset these
beliefs.
(C) Immunological method requires a great deal of expertise, whereas molecular method has
been used successfully by nonspecialists.
(D) The immunological method can only be used to test for the presence of peptide hormones
within the hypothalamus, whereas the molecular method can be used throughout the brain.
(E) The immunological method uses probes that can only bind with peptide hormones,
whereas the molecular method uses probes that bind with peptide hormones and substances
similar to them.

7. The idea that field of endocrinology can gain from developments in molecular biology is
regarded by Roberts with
(A) incredulity
(B) derision
(C) indifference
(D) pride
(E) enthusiasm

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-for-victory-batch-cat-
2024/3UKYLCAD

16
RC 6

The first mention of slavery in the statutes of the English colonies of North America does not
occur until after 1660—some forty years after the importation of the first Black people. Lest
we think that slavery existed in fact before it did in law, Oscar and Mary Handlin assure us
that the status of Black people down to the 1660’s was that of servants. A critique of the
Handlins’ interpretation of why legal slavery did not appear until the 1660’s suggests that
assumptions about the relation between slavery and racial prejudice should be reexamined,
and that explanations for the different treatment of Black slaves in North and South America
should be expanded.

The Handlins explain the appearance of legal slavery by arguing that, during the 1660’s, the
position of White servants was improving relative to that of Black servants. Thus, the
Handlins contend, Black and White servants, heretofore treated alike, each attained a
different status. There are, however, important objections to this argument. First, the
Handlins cannot adequately demonstrate that the White servant’s position was improving
during and after the 1660’s; several acts of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures indicate
otherwise. Another flaw in the Handlins’ interpretation is their assumption that prior to the
establishment of legal slavery there was no discrimination against Black people. It is true that
before the 1660’s Black people were rarely called slaves. But this should not overshadow
evidence from the 1630’s on that points to racial discrimination without using the term
slavery. Such discrimination sometimes stopped short of lifetime servitude or inherited
status—the two attributes of true slavery—yet in other cases it included both. The Handlins’
argument excludes the real possibility that Black people in the English colonies were never
treated as the equals of White people.

This possibility has important ramifications. If from the outset Black people were
discriminated against, then legal slavery should be viewed as a reflection and an extension of
racial prejudice rather than, as many historians including the Handlins have argued, the
cause of prejudice. In addition, the existence of discrimination before the advent of legal
slavery offers a further explanation for the harsher treatment of Black slaves in North than in
South America. Freyre and Tannenbaum have rightly argued that the lack of certain traditions
in North America—such as a Roman conception of slavery and a Roman Catholic emphasis on
equality—explains why the treatment of Black slaves was more severe there than in the
Spanish and Portuguese colonies of South America. But this cannot be the whole explanation
since it is merely negative, based only on a lack of something. A more compelling explanation
is that the early and sometimes extreme racial discrimination in the English colonies helped
determine the particular nature of the slavery that followed.
17
1. Which of the following statements best describes the organization of 1st paragraph of the
passage?

(A) A historical trend is sketched and an exception to that trend is cited.

(B) Evidence for a historical irregularity is mentioned and a generalization from that evidence
is advanced.
(C) A paradox about the origins of an institution is pointed out and the author’s explanation
of the paradox is expounded.
(D) A statement about a historical phenomenon is offered and a possible misinterpretation of
that statement is addressed.
(E) An interpretation of the rise of an institution is stated and evidence for that interpretation
is provided.

2. Which of the following is the most logical inference to be drawn from the passage about
the effects of “several acts of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures” passed during and after
the 1660’s?
(A) The acts negatively affected the pre-1660’s position of Black as well as of White servants.
(B) Acts had effect of impairing rather than improving position of White servants relative to
what it had been before 1660’s.
(C) The acts had a different effect o n the position of White servants than did many of the
acts passed during this time by the legislatures of other colonies.
(D) The acts, at the very least, caused the position of White servants to remain no better
than it had been before the 1660’s.
(E) The acts, at the very least, tended to reflect the attitudes toward Black servants that
already existed before the 1660’s.

3. With which of the following statements regarding the status of Black people in the English
colonies of North America before the 1660’s would the author be LEAST likely to agree?
(A) Although Black people were not legally considered to be slaves, they were often called
slaves.
(B) Although subject to some discrimination, Black people had a higher legal status than they
did after the 1660’s.
(C) Although sometimes subject to lifetime servitude, Black people were not legally
considered to be slaves.
(D) Although often not treated the same as White people, Black people, like many White
people, possessed the legal status of servants.
(E) Although apparently subject to more discrimination after 1630 than before 1630, Black
people from 1620 to the 1660’s were legally considered to be servants.

4. According to the passage, the Handlins have argued which of the following about the
relationship between racial prejudice and the institution of legal slavery in the English
colonies of North America?
(A) Racial prejudice and the institution of slavery arose simultaneously.
(B) Racial prejudice most often took the form of the imposition of inherited status, one of the
attributes of slavery.
(C) The source of racial prejudice was the institution of slavery.
(D) Because of the influence of the Roman Catholic church, racial prejudice sometimes did
not result in slavery.
18

(E) Although existing in a lesser form before the 1660’s, racial prejudice increased sharply
after slavery was legalized.
5. The passage suggests that the existence of a Roman conception of slavery in Spanish and
Portuguese colonies had the effect of
(A) extending rather than causing racial prejudice in these colonies
(B) hastening the legalization of slavery in these colonies
(C) mitigating some of the conditions of slavery for Black people in these colonies
(D) delaying the introduction of slavery into the English colonies
(E) bringing about an improvement in the treatment of Black slaves in the English colonies

6. The author considers the explanation put forward by Freyre and Tannenbaum for the
treatment accorded Black slaves in the English colonies of North America to be
(A) ambitious but misguided
(B) valid but limited
(C) popular but suspect
(D) anachronistic and controversial
(E) premature and illogical

7. With which of the following statements regarding the reason for the introduction of legal
slavery in the English colonies of North America would the author be most likely to agree?
(A) The introduction is partly to be explained by reference to origins of slavery, before
1660’s, in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies.
(B) Introduction is to be explained by reference to a growing consensus beginning in 1630’s
about what were attributes of true slavery.
(C) The introduction is more likely to be explained by reference to a decline than to an
improvement in the position of White servants in the colonies during and after the 1660’s.
(D) The introduction is more likely to be explained by reference to the position of Black
servants in the colonies in the 1630’s than by reference to their position in the 1640’s and
1650’s.
(E) The introduction is more likely to be explained by reference to the history of Black people
in the colonies before 1660 than by reference to the improving position of White servants
during and after the 1660’s.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-
6/OHEAVVMQ

19
RC 7

Many literary detectives have pored over a great puzzle concerning the writer Marcel Proust:
what happened in 1909? How did Contre Saint-Beuve, an essay attacking the methods of the
critic Saint Beuve, turn into the start of the novel Remembrance of Things Past? A recently
published letter from Proust to the editor Vallette confirms that Fallois, the editor of the 1954
edition of Contre Saint-Beuve, made an essentially correct guess about the relationship of the
essay to the novel. Fallois proposed that Proust had tried to begin a novel in 1908,
abandoned it for what was to be a long demonstration of Saint-Beuve’s blindness to the real
nature of great writing, found the essay giving rise to personal memories and fictional
developments, and allowed these to take over in a steadily developing novel.

Draft passages in Proust’s 1909 notebooks indicate that the transition from essay to novel
began in Contre Saint-Beuve, when Proust introduced several examples to show the powerful
influence that involuntary memory exerts over the creative imagination. In effect, in trying to
demonstrate that the imagination is more profound and less submissive to the intellect than
Saint-Beuve assumed, Proust elicited vital memories of his own and, finding subtle
connections between them, began to amass the material for Remembrance. By August,
Proust was writing to Vallette, informing him of his intention to develop the material as a
novel. Maurice Bardeche, in Marcel Proust, romancier, has shown the importance in the drafts
of Remembrance of spontaneous and apparently random associations of Proust’s
subconscious. As incidents and reflections occurred to Proust, he continually inserted new
passages altering and expanding his narrative. But he found it difficult to control the drift of
his inspiration. The very richness and complexity of the meaningful relationships that kept
presenting and rearranging themselves on all levels, from abstract intelligence to profound
dreamy feelings, made it difficult for Proust to set them out coherently. The beginning of
control came when he saw how to connect the beginning and the end of his novel.

Intrigued by Proust’s claim that he had “begun and finished” Remembrance at the same time,
Henri Bonnet discovered that parts of Remembrance’s last book were actually started in
1909. Already in that year, Proust had drafted descriptions of his novel’s characters in their
old age that would appear in the final book of Remembrance, where the permanence of art is
set against the ravages of time. The letter to Vallette, drafts of the essay and novel, and
Bonnet’s researches establish in broad outline the process by which Proust generated his
novel out of the ruins of his essay. But those of us who hoped, with Kolb, that Kolb’s newly
published complete edition of Proust’s correspondence for 1909 would document the process
in greater detail are disappointed. For until Proust was confident that he was at last in sight of
a viable structure for Remembrance, he told few correspondents that he was producing
anything more ambitious than Contre Saint-Beuve. 20
1. The passage is primarily concerned with

(A) the role of involuntary memory in Proust’s writing

(B) evidence concerning the genesis of Proust’s novel Remembrance of Things Past
(C) conflicting scholarly opinions about the value of studying the drafts of Remembrance of
Things Past
(D) Proust’s correspondence and what it reveals about Remembrance of Things Past
(E) the influence of Saint-Beuve’s criticism on Proust’s novel Remembrance of Things Past

2. It can be inferred from the passage that all of the following are literary detectives who
have tried, by means of either scholarship or criticism, to help solve the “great puzzle”
(A) Bardeche
(B) Bonnet
(C) Fallois
(D) Kolb
(E) Vallette

3. According to the passage, in drafts of Contre Saint Beuve Proust set out to show that
Saint-Beuve made which of the following mistakes as a critic?
I. Saint-Beuve made no effort to study the development of a novel through its drafts and
revisions.
II. Saint-Beuve assigned too great a role in the creative process to a writer’s conscious
intellect.
III. Saint-Beuve concentrated too much on plots and not enough on imagery and other
elements of style.
(A) II only (B) III only (C) I and II only (D) I and III only (E) I, II, and III

4. Which of the following best states the author’s attitude toward the information that
scholars have gathered about Proust’s writing in 1909?

(A) The author is disappointed that no new documents have come to light since Fallois’s
speculations.
(B) The author is dissatisfied because there are too many gaps and inconsistencies in the
drafts.
(C) The author is confident that Fallois’s 1954 guess has been proved largely correct, but
regrets that still more detailed documentation concerning Proust’s transition from the essay
to the novel has not emerged.
(D) The author is satisfied that Fallois’s judgment was largely correct, but feels that Proust’s
early work in designing and writing the novel was probably far more deliberate than Fallois’s
description of the process would suggest.
(E) The author is satisfied that the facts of Proust’s life in 1909 have been thoroughly
established, but believes such documents as drafts and correspondence are only of limited
value in a critical assessment of Proust’s writing.

5. The author of the passage implies that which of the following would be the LEAST useful
source of information about Proust’s transition from working on Contre Saint-Beuve to having
a viable structure for Remembrance of Things Past?
(A) Fallois’s comments in the 1954 edition of Contre Saint-Beuve
21

(B) Proust’s 1909 notebooks, including the drafts of Remembrance of Things Past
(C) Proust’s 1909 correspondence, excluding the letter to Vallette
(D) Bardeche’s Marcel Proust, romancier
(E) Bonnet’s researches concerning Proust’s drafts of the final book of Remembrance of
Things Past

6. The passage offers information to answer which of the following questions?

(A) Precisely when in 1909 did Proust decide to abandon Contre Saint-Beuve?
(B) Precisely when in 1909 did Proust decide to connect the beginning and the end of
Remembrance of Things Past?
(C) What was the subject of the novel that Proust attempted in 1908?
(D) What specific criticisms of Saint-Beuve appear, in fictional form, in Remembrance of
Things Past?
(E) What is a theme concerning art that appears in the final book of Remembrance of Things
Past?

7. Which of the following best describes the relationship between Contre Saint-Beuve and
Remembrance of Things Past?
(A) Immediately after abandoning Contre Saint-Beuve, at Vallette’s suggestion, Proust
started Remembrance as a fictional demonstration that Saint-Beuve was wrong about the
imagination.
(B) Immediately after abandoning Contre Saint-Beuve, at Vallette’s suggestion, Proust turned
his attention to Remembrance, starting with incidents that had occurred to him while
planning the essay.
(C) Despondent that he could not find a coherent structure for Contre Saint-Beuve, an essay
about the role of memory in fiction, Proust began instead to write Remembrance, a novel
devoted to important early memories.
(D) While developing his argument about the imagination in Contre Saint-Beuve, Proust
described and began to link together personal memories that became a foundation for
Remembrance.
(E) While developing his argument about memory and imagination in Contre Saint-Beuve,
Proust created fictional characters to embody the abstract themes in his essay.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-7/EEN05OZH

22
RC 8

The term “Ice Age” may give a wrong impression. The epoch that geologists know as the
Pleistocene and that spanned the 1.5 to 2.0 million years prior to the current geologic epoch
was not one long continuous glaciation, but a period of oscillating climate with ice advances
punctuated by times of interglacial climate not very different from the climate experienced
now.

Ice sheets that derived from an ice cap centered on northern Scandinavia reached southward
to Central Europe. And Beyond the margins of the ice sheets, climatic oscillations affected
most of the rest of the world; for example, in the deserts, periods of wetter conditions
(pluvials) contrasted with drier, interpluvial periods. Although the time involved is so short,
about 0.04 percent of the total age of the Earth, the amount of attention devoted to the
Pleistocene has been incredibly large, probably because of its immediacy, and because the
epoch largely coincides with the appearance on Earth of humans and their immediate
ancestors.

There is no reliable way of dating much of the Ice Age. Geological dates are usually obtained
by using the rates of decay of various radioactive elements found in minerals. Some of these
rates are suitable for very old rocks but involve increasing errors when used for young rocks;
others are suitable for very young rocks and errors increase rapidly in older rocks. Most of the
Ice Age spans a period of time for which no element has an appropriate decay rate.

Nevertheless, researchers of the Pleistocene epoch have developed all sorts of more or less
fanciful model schemes of how they would have arranged the Ice Age had they been in
charge of events. For example, an early classification of Alpine glaciation suggested the
existence there of four glaciations, named the Gunz, Mindel, Riss, and Wurm. This succession
was based primarily on a series of deposits and events not directly related to glacial and
interglacial periods, rather than on the more usual modern method of studying biological
remains found in interglacial beds themselves interstratified within glacial deposits. Yet this
succession was forced willy-nilly onto the glaciated parts of Northern Europe, where there are
partial successions of true glacial ground moraines and interglacial deposits, with hopes of
ultimately piecing them together to provide a complete Pleistocene succession. Eradication of
the Alpine nomenclature is still proving a Herculean task.

There is no conclusive evidence about the relative length, complexity, and temperatures of
the various glacial and interglacial periods. We do not know whether we live in a postglacial
period or an interglacial period. The chill truth seems to be that we are already past the
optimum climate of postglacial time. Studies of certain fossil distributions and of the pollen of
certain temperate plants suggest decreases of a degree or two in both summer and winter
temperatures and, therefore, that we may be in the declining climatic phase leading to
glaciation and extinction.
23
1. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with
(A) searching for an accurate method of dating the Pleistocene epoch
(B) discussing problems involved in providing an accurate picture of the Pleistocene epoch
(C) declaring opposition to the use of the term “Ice Age” for the Pleistocene epoch
(D) criticizing fanciful schemes about what happened in the Pleistocene epoch
(E) refuting the idea that there is no way to tell if we are now living in an Ice Age

2. The “wrong impression” to which the author refers is the idea that the
(A) climate of the Pleistocene epoch was not very different from the climate we are now
experiencing
(B) climate of the Pleistocene epoch was composed of periods of violent storms
(C) Pleistocene epoch consisted of very wet, cold periods mixed with very day, hot periods
(D) Pleistocene epoch comprised one period of continuous glaciation during which Northern
Europe was covered with ice sheets
(E) Pleistocene epoch had no long periods during which much of the Earth was covered by ice

3. One of the reasons for the deficiencies of the “early classification of Alpine glaciation” is
that it was
(A) derived from evidence that was only tangentially related to times of actual glaciation
(B) based primarily on fossil remains rather than on actual living organisms
(C) an abstract, imaginative scheme of how the period might have been structured
(D) based on unmethodical examinations of randomly chosen glacial biological remains
(E) derived from evidence that had been haphazardly gathered from glacial deposits and
inaccurately evaluated

4. Which of the following does the passage imply about the “early classification of Alpine
glaciation” ?
(A) It should not have been applied as widely as it was.
(B) It represents the best possible scientific practice, given the tools available at the time.
(C) It was a valuable tool, in its time, for measuring the length of the four periods of
glaciation.
(D) It could be useful, but only as a general guide to the events of the Pleistocene epoch.
(E) It does not shed any light on the methods used at the time for investigating periods of
glaciation.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that an important result of producing an accurate
chronology of events of the Pleistocene epoch would be a
(A) clearer idea of the origin of the Earth
(B) clearer picture of the Earth during the time that humans developed
(C) clearer understanding of the reasons for the existence of deserts
(D) more detailed understanding of how radioactive dating of minerals works
(E) firmer understanding of how the northern polar ice cap developed

6. The author refers to deserts primarily in order to

(A) illustrate the idea that an interglacial climate is marked by oscillations of wet and dry
periods
(B) illustrate the idea that what happened in the deserts during the Ice Age had far-reaching
24

effects even on the ice sheets of Central and Northern Europe

(C) illustrate the idea that the effects of the Ice Age’s climatic variations extended beyond the
areas of ice
(D) support the view that during the Ice Age sheets of ice covered some of the deserts of the
world
(E) support the view that we are probably living in a postglacial period

7. The author would regard the idea that we are living in an interglacial period as
(A) unimportant
(B) unscientific
(C) self-evident
(D) plausible
(E) absurd

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-8/T4YOAIRS

25
RC 9

The general idea of being fit is usually assumed to be exercising regularly and having a
healthy diet. It’s true to some extent. But this is not always the case. People don’t realise
that sleep also plays a crucial part when it comes to physical and mental well-being. It’s a
restorative process, which shouldn’t be negotiable.

Hectic working hours, increasing stress levels, and an unhealthy lifestyle can cause irregular
sleep patterns. These not only disturb one’s daily routine, but can also hamper one’s health,
leading to lifestyle conditions like deranged cholesterol and diabetes. It’s a preconceived
notion that cholesterol and diabetes are usually genetic diseases, and unhealthy eating
patterns and lifestyle exacerbate them. It is not generally known that sleep deprivation can
put a person at risk of both deranged cholesterol and diabetes.

Sleep helps your body and mind repair and recharge themselves. But things can go awry if
one is sleep-deprived. Insomnia can generally make the body work abnormally. It affects the
mental and physical abilities to prepare the body for the next day. It leaves the brain
exhausted, affecting the natural functioning of the body.

Lack of sleep can lead to higher cholesterol and blood pressure. Sleep deprivation can lower
levels of leptin, a hormone that stabilises metabolism and appetite. This can also lead to
obesity, if left unchecked. Sleep deprivation has been found to raise levels of ghrelin, the
hunger hormone, and decrease levels of leptin, the satiety hormone. That’s why people seek
relief in foods that raise blood sugar. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends
that adults should get a minimum of seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Staying up late
can lead to consuming unhealthy snacks and junk food high in carbs and sugar. All this
increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes and is equally connected to obesity.

Just like any other routine, having a definite sleeping pattern can help a person maintain a
cycle of rest and activity. Sleeping at the same time every day and waking up on time will
encourage quality sleep. Proper relaxation of body and mind before sleeping means that one
should keep the mobile phone aside for at least half an hour before bed. It helps if the room
is dark and quiet. Plus, one can always read a good book or listen to soothing music which
can lull one into deep sleep.

26
1. Being deprived of sleep can result in
A. mental exhaustion.
B. terminal illness.
C. hunger satiation.
D. metabolism loss.

2. In what way does sleep contribute to a person’s well-being?

A. By helping the body replenish its resources.
B. By adding power and strength to the muscles.
C. By increasing a person’s appetite.
D. By regularising a person’s daily routine.

3. In order to remain physically fit one must

A. maintain a set sleep pattern.
B. snack frequently.
C. raise levels of ghrelin.
D. read a good book every night.

4. The main focus of the passage is on the

A. perils of insomnia and irregular sleep patterns.
B. stability of leptin and ghrelin in the human body.
C. ill effects of junk food high in carbs and sugars.
D. dangers of high levels of cholesterol and diabetes.

5. As per the passage which of these sentences is not correct?

A. One’s body and mind should be properly relaxed to ensure good sleep.
B. Insufficient sleep can lead to obesity.
C. Irregular sleep patterns can result in health problems.
D. Regular exercising and eating healthy food alone ensure fitness.

6. The objective of the passage is to

A. provide medical input to the reader.
B. advise the reader.
C. present psychological insights to the reader.
D. expose the reader to disinformation.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-
9/OA14MTW4
27
RC 10

The deep sea typically has a sparse fauna dominated by tiny worms and crustaceans, with an
even sparser distribution of larger animals. However, near hydrothermal vents, areas of the
ocean where warm water emerges from subterranean sources, live remarkable densities of
huge clams, blind crabs, and fish.

Most deep-sea faunas rely for food on particulate matter, ultimately derived from
photosynthesis, falling from above. The food supplies necessary to sustain the large vent
communities, however, must be many times the ordinary fallout. The first reports describing
vent faunas proposed two possible sources of nutrition: bacterial chemosynthesis, production
of food by bacteria using energy derived from chemical changes, and advection, the drifting
of food materials from surrounding regions. Later, evidence in support of the idea of intense
local chemosynthesis was accumulated: hydrogen sulfide was found in vent water; many
vent-site bacteria were found to be capable of chemosynthesis; and extremely large
concentrations of bacteria were found in samples of vent water thought to be pure. This final
observation seemed decisive. If such astonishing concentrations of bacteria were typical of
vent outflow, then food within the vent would dwarf any contribution from advection. Hence,
the widely quoted conclusion was reached that bacterial chemosynthesis provides the
foundation for hydrothermal-vent food chains—an exciting prospect because no other
communities on Earth are independent of photosynthesis.

There are, however, certain difficulties with this interpretation. For example, some of the
large sedentary organisms associated with vents are also found at ordinary deep-sea
temperatures many meters from the nearest hydrothermal sources. This suggests that
bacterial chemosynthesis is not a sufficient source of nutrition for these creatures. Another
difficulty is that similarly dense populations of large deep-sea animals have been found in the
proximity of “smokers”—vents where water emerges at temperatures up to 350℃. No
bacteria can survive such heat, and no bacteria were found there. Unless smokers are
consistently located near more hospitable warm-water vents, chemosynthesis can account for
only a fraction of the vent faunas. It is conceivable, however, that these large, sedentary
organisms do in fact feed on bacteria that grow in warm-water vents, rise in the vent water,
and then rain in peripheral areas to nourish animals living some distance from the warm-
water vents.

Nonetheless advection is a more likely alternative food source. Research has demonstrated
that advective flow, which originates near the surface of the ocean where suspended
particulate matter accumulates, transports some of that matter and water to the vents.

Estimates suggest that for every cubic meter of vent discharge, 350 milligrams of particulate
organic material would be advected into the vent area. Thus, for an average-sized vent,
advection could provide more than 30 kilograms of potential food per day. In addition, it is
likely that small live animals in the advected water might be killed or stunned by thermal
and/or chemical shock, thereby contributing to the food supply of vents.
28
1. The passage provides information for answering which of following questions?
(A) What causes warm-water vents to form?
(B) Do vent faunas consume more than do deep-sea faunas of similar size?
(C) Do bacteria live in the vent water of smokers?
(D) What role does hydrogen sulfide play in chemosynthesis?
(E) What accounts for the locations of deep-sea smokers?

2. The information in the passage suggests that the majority of deep-sea faunas that live in
nonvent habitats have which of the following characteristics?
(A) They do not normally feed on particles of food in the water.
(B) They are smaller than many vent faunas.
(C) They are predators.
(D) They derive nutrition from a chemosynthetic food source.
(E) They congregate around a single main food source.

3. The primary purpose of the passage is to

(A) describe a previously unknown natural phenomenon
(B) reconstruct the evolution of a natural phenomenon
(C) establish unequivocally the accuracy of a hypothesis
(D) survey explanations for a natural phenomenon and determine which is best supported by
evidence
(E) entertain criticism of the author’s research and provide an effective response

4. Which of the following does the author cite as a weakness in the argument that bacterial
chemosynthesis provides the foundation for the food chains at deep-sea vents?
(A) Vents are colonized by some of the same animals found in other areas of the ocean floor.
(B) Vent water does not contain sufficient quantities of hydrogen sulfide.
(C) Bacteria cannot produce large quantities of food quickly enough.
(D) Large concentrations of minerals are found in vent water.
(E) Some bacteria found in the vents are incapable of chemosynthesis.

5. Which of the following is information supplied in the passage that would support the
statement that the food supplies necessary to sustain vent communities must be many times
that of ordinary fallout?
I. Large vent faunas move from vent to vent in search of food.
II. Vent faunas are not able to consume food produced by photosynthesis.
III. Vents are more densely populated than are other deep-sea areas.

(A) I only (B) III only (C) I and II only (D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III

6. The author refers to “smokers” most probably in order to

(A) show how thermal shock can provide food for some vent faunas by stunning small
animals
(B) prove that the habitat of most deep-sea animals is limited to warm-water vents
(C) explain how bacteria carry out chemosynthesis
(D) demonstrate how advection compensates for the lack of food sources on the seafloor
(E) present evidence that bacterial chemosynthesis may be an inadequate source of food for
29

some vent faunas

7. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the particulate matter that
is carried down from the surface of the ocean?
(A) It is the basis of bacterial chemosynthesis in the vents.
(B) It may provide an important source of nutrition for vent faunas.
(C) It may cause the internal temperature of the vents to change significantly.
(D) It is transported as large aggregates of particles.
(E) It contains hydrogen sulfide.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-
10/114MAX7B

30
RC 11

That Louise Nevelson is believed by many critics to be the greatest twentieth-century sculptor
is all the more remarkable because the greatest resistance to women artists has been, until
recently, in the field of sculpture. Since Neolithic times, sculpture has been considered the
prerogative of men, partly, perhaps, for purely physical reasons: it was erroneously assumed
that women were not suited for the hard manual labor required in sculpting stone, carving
wood, or working in metal. It has been only during the twentieth century that women
sculptors have been recognized as major artists, and it has been in the United States,
especially since the decades of the fifties and sixties, that women sculptors have shown the
greatest originality and creative power. Their rise to prominence parallels the development of
sculpture itself in the United States: while there had been a few talented sculptors in the
United States before the 1940’s, it was only after 1945—when New York was rapidly
becoming the art capital of the world—that major sculpture was produced in the United
States. Some of the best was the work of women.

By far the most outstanding of these women is Louise Nevelson, who in the eyes of many
critics is the most original female artist alive today. One famous and influential critic, Hilton
Kramer, said of her work, “For myself, I think Ms. Nevelson succeeds where the painters
often fail.”

Her works have been compared to the Cubist constructions of Picasso, the Surrealistic objects
of Miro, and the Merzbau of Schwitters. Nevelson would be the first to admit that she has
been influenced by all of these, as well as by African sculpture, and by Native American and
pre-Columbian art, but she has absorbed all these influences and still created a distinctive art
that expresses the urban landscape and the aesthetic sensibility of the twentieth century.

Nevelson says, “I have always wanted to show the world that art is everywhere, except that
it has to pass through a creative mind.” Using mostly discarded wooden objects like packing
crates, broken pieces of furniture, and abandoned architectural ornaments, all of which she
has hoarded for years, she assembles architectural constructions of great beauty and power.
Creating very freely with no sketches, she glues and nails objects together, paints them
black, or more rarely white or gold, and places them in boxes. These assemblages, walls,
even entire environments create a mysterious, almost awe-inspiring atmosphere. Although
she has denied any symbolic or religious intent in her works, their three-dimensional
grandeur and even their titles, such as Sky Cathedral and Night Cathedral, suggest such
connotations. In some ways, her most ambitious works are closer to architecture than to
traditional sculpture, but then neither Louise Nevelson nor her art fits into any neat category.
31
1. The passage focuses primarily on which of the following?
(A) A general tendency in twentieth-century art
(B) The work of a particular artist
(C) The artistic influences on women sculptors
(D) Critical responses to twentieth-century sculpture
(E) Materials used by twentieth-century sculptors

2. Which of the following statements is supported by information given in the passage?

(A) Since 1945 women sculptors in the United States have produced more sculpture than
have men sculptors.
(B) Since 1950 sculpture produced in the U.S.A has been the most original & creative
sculpture produced anywhere.
(C) From 1900 to 1950 women sculptors in Europe enjoyed more recognition for their work
than did women sculptors in the U.S.A
(D) Prior to 1945 there were many women sculptors whose work was ignored by critics.
(E) Prior to 1945 there was little major sculpture produced by men or women sculptors
working in the United States.

3. The author quotes Hilton Kramer most probably in order to illustrate which of the
following?
(A) The realism of Nevelson’s work
(B) The unique qualities of Nevelson’s style
(C) The extent of critical approval of Nevelson’s work
(D) A distinction between sculpture and painting
(E) A reason for the prominence of women sculptors since the 1950’s

4. Which of the following is one way in which Nevelson’s art illustrates her theory as it is
expressed?
(A) She sculpts in wood rather than in metal or stone.
(B) She paints her sculptures and frames them in boxes.
(C) She makes no preliminary sketches but rather allows the sculpture to develop as she
works.
(D) She puts together pieces of ordinary objects once used for different purposes to make her
sculptures.
(E) She does not deliberately attempt to convey symbolic or religious meanings through her
sculpture.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which of the following about
Nevelson’s sculptures?
(A) They suggest religious and symbolic meanings.
(B) They do not have qualities characteristic of sculpture.
(C) They are mysterious and awe-inspiring, but not beautiful.
(D) They are uniquely American in style and sensibility.
(E) They show the influence of twentieth-century architecture.

6. The author regards Nevelson’s stature in the art world as “remarkable” in part because of
which of the following?
32

(A) Her work is currently overrated.

(B) Women sculptors have found it especially difficult to be accepted and recognized as major
artists.
(C) Nevelson’s sculptures are difficult to understand.
(D) Many art critics have favored painting over sculpture in writing about developments in the
art world.
(E) Few of the artists prominent in the twentieth century have been sculptors.

7. Which of the following statements about Nevelson’s sculptures can be inferred from the
passage?
(A) They are meant for display outdoors.
(B) They are often painted in several colors.
(C) They are sometimes very large.
(D) They are hand carved by Nevelson.
(E) They are built around a central wooden object.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/reading-comprehension-practice-
11/OCSD07I5

33
RC 12

The determination of the sources of copper ore used in the manufacture of copper and bronze
artifacts of Bronze Age civilizations would add greatly to our knowledge of cultural contacts
and trade in that era. Researchers have analyzed artifacts and ores for their concentrations of
elements, but for a variety of reasons, these studies have generally failed to provide evidence
of the sources of the copper used in the objects. Elemental composition can vary within the
same copper-ore lode, usually because of varying admixtures of other elements, especially
iron, lead, zinc, and arsenic. And high concentrations of cobalt or zinc, noticed in some
artifacts, appear in a variety of copper-ore sources. Moreover, the processing of ores
introduced poorly controlled changes in the concentrations of minor and trace elements in the
resulting metal. Some elements evaporate during smelting and roasting; different
temperatures and processes produce different degrees of loss. Finally, flux, which is
sometimes added during smelting to remove waste material from the ore, could add
quantities of elements to the final product.

An elemental property that is unchanged through these chemical processes is the isotopic
composition of each metallic element in the ore. Isotopic composition, the percentages of the
different isotopes of an element in a given sample of the element, is therefore particularly
suitable as an indicator of the sources of the ore. Of course, for this purpose it is necessary to
find an element whose isotopic composition is more or less constant throughout a given ore
body, but varies from one copper ore body to another or, at least, from one geographic
region to another.

The ideal choice, when isotopic composition is used to investigate the source of copper ore,
would seem to be copper itself. It has been shown that small but measurable variations occur
naturally in the isotopic composition of copper. However, the variations are large enough only
in rare ores; between samples of the common ore minerals of copper, isotopic variations
greater than the measurement error have not been found. An alternative choice is lead,
which occurs in most copper and bronze artifacts of the Bronze Age in amounts consistent
with the lead being derived from the copper ores and possibly from the fluxes. The isotopic
composition of lead often varies from one source of common copper ore to another, with
variations exceeding the measurement error; and preliminary studies indicate virtually
uniform isotopic composition of the lead from a single copper-ore source. While some of the
lead found in an artifact may have been introduced from flux or when other metals were
added to the copper ore, lead so added in Bronze Age processing would usually have the
same isotopic composition as the lead in the copper ore. Lead isotope studies may thus prove
useful for interpreting the archaeological record of the Bronze Age.
34
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) discuss the techniques of analyzing lead isotope composition
(B) propose a way to determine the origin of the copper in certain artifacts
(C) resolve a dispute concerning the analysis of copper ore
(D) describe the deficiencies of a currently used method of chemical analysis of certain metals
(E) offer an interpretation of the archaeological record of the Bronze Age

2. The author first mentions the addition of flux during smelting in order to
(A) give a reason for the failure of elemental composition studies to determine ore sources
(B) illustrate differences between various Bronze Age civilizations
(C) show the need for using high smelting temperatures
(D) illustrate the uniformity of lead isotope composition
(E) explain the success of copper isotope composition analysis

3. The author suggests which of the following about a Bronze Age artifact containing high
concentrations of cobalt or zinc?
(A) It could not be reliably tested for its elemental composition.
(B) It could not be reliably tested for its copper isotope composition.
(C) It could not be reliably tested for its lead isotope composition.
(D) It could have been manufactured from ore from any one of a variety of sources.
(E) It could have been produced by addition of other metals during the processing of copper
ore.

4. According to the passage, possible sources of the lead found in a copper or bronze artifact
include which of the following?
I. The copper ore used to manufacture the artifact
II. Flux added during processing of the copper ore
III. Other metal added during processing of the copper ore

(A) I only (B) II only (C) III only (D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III

5.The author rejects copper as the “ideal choice” because

(A) the concentration of copper in Bronze Age artifacts varies
(B) elements other than copper may be introduced during smelting
(C) the isotopic composition of copper changes during smelting
(D) among common copper ores, differences in copper isotope composition are too small
(E) within a single source of copper ore, copper isotope composition can vary substantially

6. The author makes which of the following statements about lead isotope composition?
(A) It often varies from one copper-ore source to another.
(B) It sometimes varies over short distances in a single copper-ore source.
(C) It can vary during the testing of artifacts, producing a measurement error.
(D) It frequently changes during smelting and roasting.
(E) It may change when artifacts are buried for thousands of years.
35
7. It can be inferred that use of flux in processing copper ore can alter the lead isotope
composition of resulting metal EXCEPT when
(A) there is a smaller concentration of lead in the flux than in the copper ore
(B) the concentration of lead in the flux is equivalent to that of the lead in the ore
(C) some of the lead in the flux evaporates during processing
(D) any lead in the flux has the same isotopic composition as the lead in the ore
(E) other metals are added during processing

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
12/KXQQCC0C

36
RC 13

A long-held view of the history of the English colonies that became the United States has
been that England’s policy toward these colonies before 1763 was dictated by commercial
interests and that a change to a more imperial policy, dominated by expansionist militarist
objectives, generated the tensions that ultimately led to the American Revolution. In a recent
study, Stephen Saunders Webb has presented a formidable challenge to this view. According
to Webb, England already had a military imperial policy for more than a century before the
American Revolution. He sees Charles II, the English monarch between 1660 and 1685, as
the proper successor of the Tudor monarchs of the sixteenth century and of Oliver Cromwell,
all of whom were bent on extending centralized executive power over England’s possessions
through the use of what Webb calls “garrison government.” Garrison government allowed the
colonists a legislative assembly, but real authority, in Webb’s view, belonged to the colonial
governor, who was appointed by the king and supported by the “garrison,” that is, by the
local contingent of English troops under the colonial governor’s command.

According to Webb, the purpose of garrison government was to provide military support for a
royal policy designed to limit the power of the upper classes in the American colonies. Webb
argues that the colonial legislative assemblies represented the interests not of the common
people but of the colonial upper classes, a coalition of merchants and nobility who favored
self-rule and sought to elevate legislative authority at the expense of the executive. It was,
according to Webb, the colonial governors who favored the small farmer, opposed the
plantation system, and tried tough taxation to break up large holdings of land. Backed by the
military presence of the garrison, these governors tried to prevent the gentry and merchants,
allied in the colonial assemblies, from transforming colonial America into a capitalistic
oligarchy.

Webb’s study illuminates the political alignments that existed in the colonies in the century
prior to the American Revolution, but his view of the crown’s use of the military as an
instrument of colonial policy is not entirely convincing. England during the seventeenth
century was not noted for its military achievements. Cromwell did mount England’s most
ambitious overseas military expedition in more than a century, but it proved to be an utter
failure. Under Charles II, the English army was too small to be a major instrument of
government. Not until the war with France in 1697 did William III persuade Parliament to
create a professional standing army, and Parliament's price for doing so was to keep the
army under tight legislative control. While it may be true that the crown attempted to curtail
the power of the colonial upper classes, it is hard to imagine how the English army during the
seventeenth century could have provided significant military support for such a policy.
37
1. The passage can best be described as a
(A) survey of the inadequacies of a conventional viewpoint
(B) reconciliation of opposing points of view
(C) summary and evaluation of a recent study
(D) defense of a new thesis from anticipated objections
(E) review of the subtle distinctions between apparently similar views

2. The passage suggests that the long-held view is that

(A) the colonial governors were sympathetic to the demands of the common people
(B) Charles II was a pivotal figure in the shift of English monarchs toward a more imperial
policy in their governorship of the American colonies
(C) the American Revolution was generated largely out of a conflict between the colonial
upper classes and an alliance of merchants and small farmers
(D) the military did not play a major role as an instrument of colonial policy until 1763
(E) the colonial legislative assemblies in the colonies had little influence over the colonial
governors

3. It can be inferred that Webb would be most likely to agree with which of the following
statements regarding garrison government?
(A) Garrison government gave legislative assemblies in the colonies relatively little authority,
compared to the authority that it gave the colonial governors.
(B) Garrison government proved relatively ineffective until it was used by Charles II to curb
the power of colonial legislatures.
(C) Garrison government became a less viable colonial policy as the English Parliament began
to exert tighter legislative control over the English military.
(D) Oliver Cromwell was the first English ruler to make use of garrison government on a large
scale.
(E) The creation of a professional standing army in England in 1697 actually weakened
garrison government by diverting troops from the garrisons stationed in the American
colonies.

4. Webb views Charles II as the “proper successor” of the Tudor monarchs and Cromwell
because Charles II
(A) used colonial tax revenues to fund overseas military expeditions
(B) used the military to extend executive power over the English colonies
(C) wished to transform the American colonies into capitalistic oligarchies
(D) resisted the English Parliament’s efforts to exert control over the military
(E) allowed the American colonists to use legislative assemblies as a forum for resolving
grievances against the crown

5. Which of the following, if true, would weaken an assertion made by the author’s assertion
in the last para?
(A) Because they were poorly administered, Cromwell’s overseas military expeditions were
doomed to failure.
(B) Because it relied primarily on the symbolic presence of the military, garrison government
could be effectively administered with a relatively small number of troops.
(C) Until early in the seventeenth century, no professional standing army in Europe had
38

performed effectively in overseas military expeditions.

(D) Many of the colonial governors appointed by the crown were also commissioned army
officers.
(E) Many of the English troops stationed in the American colonies were veterans of other
overseas military expeditions

6. According to Webb’s view of colonial history, which of following was (were) true of the
merchants and nobility?
I. They were opposed to policies formulated by Charles II that would have transformed the
colonies into capitalistic oligarchies.
II. They were opposed to attempts by the English crown to limit the power of the legislative
assemblies.
III. They were united with small farmers in their opposition to the stationing of English troops
in the colonies.
(A) I only (B) II only (C) I and II only (D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III

7. The author suggests that if William III had wanted to make use of the standing army to
administer garrison government in the American colonies, he would have had to
(A) make peace with France
(B) abolish the colonial legislative assemblies
(C) seek approval from the English Parliament
(D) appoint colonial governors who were more sympathetic to royal policy
(E) raise additional revenues by increasing taxation of large landholdings in the colonies

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
13/CXC6BHJE

39
RC 14

Viruses, infectious particles consisting of nucleic acid packaged in a protein coat (the capsid),
are difficult to resist. Unable to reproduce outside a living cell, viruses reproduce only by
subverting the genetic mechanisms of a host cell. In one kind of viral life cycle, the virus first
binds to the cell’s surface, then penetrates the cell and sheds its capsid. The exposed viral
nucleic acid produces new viruses from the contents of the cell. Finally, the cell releases the
viral progeny, and a new cell cycle of infection begins. The human body responds to a viral
infection by producing antibodies: complex, highly specific proteins that selectively bind to
foreign molecules such as viruses. An antibody can either interfere with a virus’s ability to
bind to a cell, or can prevent it from releasing its nucleic acid.

Unfortunately, the common cold, produced most often by rhinoviruses, is intractable to

antiviral defense. Humans have difficulty resisting colds because rhinoviruses are so diverse,
including at least 100 strains. The strains differ most in the molecular structure of the
proteins in their capsids. Since disease-fighting antibodies bind to the capsid, an antibody
developed to protect against one rhinovirus strain is useless against other strains. Different
antibodies must be produced for each strain.

A defense against rhinoviruses might nonetheless succeed by exploiting hidden similarities

among the rhinovirus strains. For example, most rhinovirus strains bind to the same kind of
molecule (delta-receptors) on a cell’s surface when they attack human cells. Colonno, taking
advantage of these common receptors, devised a strategy for blocking the attachment of
rhinoviruses to their appropriate receptors. Rather than fruitlessly searching for an antibody
that would bind to all rhinoviruses, Colonno realized that an antibody binding to the common
receptors of a human cell would prevent rhinoviruses from initiating an infection. Because
human cells normally do not develop antibodies to components of their own cells, Colonno
injected human cells into mice, which did produce an antibody to the common receptor. In
isolated human cells, this antibody proved to be extraordinarily effective at thwarting the
rhinovirus. Moreover, when the antibody was given to chimpanzees, it inhibited rhinoviral
growth, and in humans it lessened both the severity and duration of cold symptoms.

Another possible defense against rhinoviruses was proposed by Rossman, who described
rhinoviruses’ detailed molecular structure. Rossman showed that protein sequences common
to all rhinovirus strains lie at the base of a deep “canyon” scoring each face of the capsid. The
narrow opening of this canyon possibly prevents the relatively large antibody molecules from
binding to the common sequence, but smaller molecules might reach it. Among these
smaller, non antibody molecules, some might bind to the common sequence, lock the nucleic
acid in its coat, and thereby prevent the virus from reproducing. 40
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) discuss viral mechanisms and possible ways of circumventing certain kinds of those
mechanisms
(B) challenge recent research on how rhinoviruses bind to receptors on the surfaces of cells
(C) suggest future research on rhinoviral growth in chimpanzees
(D) defend a controversial research program whose purpose is to discover the molecular
structure of rhinovirus capsid
(E) evaluate a dispute between advocates of two theories about the rhinovirus life cycle

2. It can be inferred from the passage that the protein sequences of the capsid that vary
most among strains of rhinovirus are those
(A) at the base of the “canyon”
(B) outside of the “canyon”
(C) responsible for producing nucleic acid
(D) responsible for preventing the formation of delta-receptors
(E) preventing the capsid from releasing its nucleic acid

3. It can be inferred from the passage that a cell lacking delta-receptors will be
(A) unable to prevent the rhinoviral nucleic acid from shedding its capsid
(B) defenseless against most strains of rhinovirus
(C) unable to release the viral progeny it develops after infection
(D) protected from new infections by antibodies to the rhinovirus
(E) resistant to infection by most strains of rhinovirus

4. Which of the following research strategies for developing a defense against the common
cold would the author be likely to find most promising?
(A) Continuing to look for a general antirhinoviral antibody
(B) Searching for common cell-surface receptors in humans and mice
(C) Continuing to look for similarities among the various strains of rhinovirus
(D) Discovering how the human body produces antibodies in response to a rhinoviral infection
(E) Determining the detailed molecular structure of the nucleic acid of a rhinovirus

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the purpose of Colonno’s experiments was to
determine whether
(A) chimpanzees and humans can both be infected by rhinoviruses
(B) chimpanzees can produce antibodies to human cell-surface receptors
(C) a rhinovirus’ nucleic acid might be locked in its protein coat
(D) binding antibodies to common receptors could produce a possible defense against
rhinoviruses
(E) rhinoviruses are vulnerable to human antibodies

6. According to the passage, Rossman’s research suggests that

(A) a defense against rhinoviruses might exploit structural similarities among the strains of
rhinovirus
(B) human cells normally do not develop antibodies to components of their own cells
(C) the various strains of rhinovirus differ in their ability to bind to the surface of a host cell
(D) rhinovirus versatility can work to the benefit of researchers trying to find a useful
41

antibody
(E) Colonno’s research findings are probably invalid
7. According to the passage, in order for a given antibody to bind to a given rhinoviral capsid,
which of the following must be true?
(A) The capsid must have a deep “canyon” on each of its faces.
(B) The antibody must be specific to the molecular structure of the particular capsid.
(C) The capsid must separate from its nucleic acid before binding to an antibody.
(D) The antibody must bind to a particular cell-surface receptor before it can bind to a
rhinovirus.
(E) The antibody must first enter a cell containing the particular rhinovirus

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
14/1M4QB279

42
RC 15

Discussion of the assimilation of Puerto Ricans in the United States has focused on two
factors: social standing and the loss of national culture. In general, excessive stress is placed
on one factor or the other, depending on whether the commentator is North American or
Puerto Rican. Many North American social scientists, such as Oscar Handlin, Joseph
Fitzpatrick, and Oscar Lewis, consider Puerto Ricans as the most recent in a long line of
ethnic entrants to occupy the lowest rung on the social ladder. Such a “sociodemographic”
approach tends to regard assimilation as a benign process, taking for granted increased
economic advantage and inevitable cultural integration, in a supposedly egalitarian context.
However, this approach fails to take into account the colonial nature of the Puerto Rican case,
with this group, unlike their European predecessors, coming from a nation politically
subordinated to the United States. Even the “radical” critiques of this mainstream research
model, such as the critique developed in Divided Society, attach the issue of ethnic
assimilation too mechanically to factors of economic and social mobility and are thus unable
to illuminate the cultural subordination of Puerto Ricans as a colonial minority.

In contrast, the “colonialist” approach of island-based writers such as Eduardo Seda-Bonilla,

Manuel Maldonado-Denis, and Luis Nieves-Falcon tends to view assimilation as the forced loss
of national culture in an unequal contest with imposed foreign values. There is, of course, a
strong tradition of cultural accommodation among other Puerto Rican thinkers. The writings
of Eugenio Fernandez Mendez clearly exemplify this tradition, and many supporters of Puerto
Rico’s commonwealth status share the same universalizing orientation. But the Puerto Rican
intellectuals who have written most about the assimilation process in the United States all
advance cultural nationalist views, advocating the preservation of minority cultural
distinctions and rejecting what they see as the subjugation of colonial nationalities.

This cultural and political emphasis is appropriate, but the colonialist thinkers misdirect it,
overlooking the class relations at work in both Puerto Rican and North American history. They
pose the clash of national cultures as an absolute polarity, with each culture understood as
static and undifferentiated. Yet both the Puerto Rican and North American traditions have
been subject to constant challenge from cultural forces within their own societies, forces that
may move toward each other in ways that cannot be written off as mere “assimilation.”
Consider, for example, the indigenous and Afro-Caribbean traditions in Puerto Rican culture
and how they influence and are influenced by other Caribbean cultures and Black cultures in
the United States. The elements of coercion and inequality, so central to cultural contact
according to the colonialist framework play no role in this kind of convergence of racially and
ethnically different elements of the same social class.
43
1. The author’s main purpose is to

(A) criticize the emphasis on social standing in discussions of the assimilation of Puerto Ricans
in the United States
(B) support the thesis that assimilation has not been a benign process for Puerto Ricans
(C) defend a view of the assimilation of Puerto Ricans that emphasizes the preservation of
national culture
(D) indicate deficiencies in two schools of thought on the assimilation of Puerto Ricans in the
United States
(E) reject the attempt to formulate a general framework for discussion of the assimilation of
Puerto Ricans in the United States

2. According to the passage, cultural accommodation is promoted by

(A) Eduardo Seda-Bonilla
(B) Manuel Maldonado-Denis
(C) the author of Divided Society
(D) the majority of social scientists writing on immigration
(E) many supporters of Puerto Rico’s commonwealth status

3. It can be inferred from the passage that a writer such as Eugenio Fernandez Mendez would
most likely agree with which of the following statements concerning members of minority
ethnic groups?
(A) It is necessary for the members of such groups to adapt to the culture of the majority.
(B) The members of such groups generally encounter a culture that is static and
undifferentiated.
(C) Social mobility is the most important feature of the experience of members of such
groups.
(D) Social scientists should emphasize the cultural and political aspects of the experience of
members of such groups.
(E) The assimilation of members of such groups requires the forced abandonment of their
authentic national roots.

4. The author implies that the Puerto Rican writers who have written most about assimilation
do NOT do which of the following?
(A) Regard assimilation as benign.
(B) Resist cultural integration.
(C) Describe in detail the process of assimilation.
(D) Take into account the colonial nature of the Puerto Rican case.
(E) Criticize supporters of Puerto Rico’s commonwealth status.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the “colonialist” approach is so called because its
practitioners
(A) support Puerto Rico’s commonwealth status
(B) have a strong tradition of cultural accommodation
(C) emphasize the class relations at work in both Puerto Rican and North American history
(D) pose the clash of national cultures as an absolute polarity in which each culture is
understood as static and undifferentiated
(E) regard the political relation of Puerto Rico to the United States as a significant factor in
44

the experience of Puerto Ricans

6. The author regards the emphasis by island-based writers on the cultural and political
dimensions of assimilation as
(A) Ironic
(B) dangerous
(C) fitting but misdirected
(D) illuminating but easily misunderstood
(E) peculiar but benign

7. The example discussed in thelast paragraph is intended by the author to illustrate a

(A) strength of the sociodemographic approach
(B) strength of the “colonialist” approach
(C) weakness of the sociodemographic approach
(D) weakness of the “colonialist” approach
(E) weakness of the cultural-accommodationist approach

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/aim-for-cat-2024-rc-practice/ENIDA13N

45
RC 16

Classical physics defines the vacuum as a state of absence: a vacuum is said to exist in a
region of space if there is nothing in it. In the quantum field theories that describe the
physics of elementary particles, the vacuum becomes somewhat more complicated. Even in
empty space, particles can appear spontaneously as a result of fluctuations of the vacuum.
For example, an electron and a positron, or antielectron, can be created out of the void.
Particles created in this way have only a fleeting existence; they are annihilated almost as
soon as they appear, and their presence can never be detected directly. They are called
virtual particles in order to distinguish them from real particles, whose lifetimes are not
constrained in the same way, and which can be detected. Thus it is still possible to define that
vacuum as a space that has no real particles in it.

One might expect that the vacuum would always be the state of lowest possible energy for a
given region of space. If an area is initially empty and a real particle is put into it, the total
energy, it seems, should be raised by at least the energy equivalent of the mass of the added
particle. A surprising result of some recent theoretical investigations is that this assumption is
not invariably true. There are conditions under which the introduction of a real particle of
finite mass into an empty region of space can reduce the total energy. If the reduction in
energy is great enough, an electron and a positron will be spontaneously created. Under
these conditions the electron and positron are not a result of vacuum fluctuations but are real
particles, which exist indefinitely and can be detected. In other words, under these conditions
the vacuum is an unstable state and can decay into a state of lower energy; i.e., one in which
real particles are created.

The essential condition for the decay of the vacuum is the presence of an intense electric
field. As a result of the decay of the vacuum, the space permeated by such a field can be said
to acquire an electric charge, and it can be called a charged vacuum. The particles that
materialize in the space make the charge manifest. An electric field of sufficient intensity to
create a charged vacuum is likely to be found in only one place: in the immediate vicinity of a
superheavy atomic nucleus, one with about twice as many protons as the heaviest natural
nuclei known. A nucleus that large cannot be stable, but it might be possible to assemble one
next to a vacuum for long enough to observe the decay of the vacuum. Experiments
attempting to achieve this are now under way.

46
1. Which of the following titles best describes the passage as a whole?
(A) The Vacuum: Its Fluctuations and Decay
(B) The Vacuum: Its Creation and Instability
(C) The Vacuum: A State of Absence
(D) Particles That Materialize in the Vacuum
(E) Classical Physics and the Vacuum

2. The assumption that the introduction of a real particle into a vacuum raises the total
energy of that region of space has been cast into doubt by which of the following?
(A) Findings from laboratory experiments
(B) Findings from observational field experiments
(C) Accidental observations made during other experiments
(D) Discovery of several erroneous propositions in accepted theories
(E) Predictions based on theoretical work

3. It can be inferred from the passage that scientists are currently making efforts to observe
which of the following events?
(A) The decay of a vacuum in the presence of virtual particles
(B) The decay of a vacuum next to a superheavy atomic nucleus
(C) The creation of a superheavy atomic nucleus next to an intense electric field
(D) The creation of a virtual electron and a virtual positron as a result of fluctuations of a
vacuum
(E) The creation of a charged vacuum in which only real electrons can be created in the
vacuum’s region of space

4. Physicists’ recent investigations of decay of vacuum, most closely resemble which of

following hypothetical events in other disciplines
(A) On the basis of data gathered in a carefully controlled laboratory experiment, a chemist
predicts and then demonstrates the physical properties of a newly synthesized polymer.
(B) On the basis of manipulations of macroeconomic theory, an economist predicts that,
contrary to accepted economic theory, inflation and unemployment will both decline under
conditions of rapid economic growth.
(C) On the basis of a rereading of the texts of Jane Austen’s novels, a literary critic suggests
that, contrary to accepted literary interpretations. Austen’s plots were actually metaphors for
political events in early nineteenth-century England.
(D) On the basis of data gathered in carefully planned observations of several species of
birds, a biologist proposes a modification in the accepted theory of interspecies competition.
(E) On the basis of a study of observations incidentally recorded in ethnographers’
descriptions of non-Western societies, an anthropologist proposes a new theory of kinship
relations.

5. The author considers the reduction of energy in an empty region of space to which a real
particle has been added to be
(A) a well-known process
(B) a frequent occurrence
(C) a fleeting aberration
(D) an unimportant event
47

(E) an unexpected outcome

6. According to the passage, virtual particles differ from real particles in which of the
following ways?
I. Virtual particles have extremely short lifetimes.
II. Virtual particles are created in an intense electric field.
III. Virtual particles cannot be detected directly.
(A) I only (B) II only (C) III only (D) I and II only (E) I and III only

7. The author’s assertions concerning the conditions that lead to the decay of the vacuum
would be most weakened if which of the following occurred?
(A) Scientists created an electric field next to a vacuum, but found that the electric field was
not intense enough to create a charged vacuum.
(B) Scientists assembled a superheavy atomic nucleus next to a vacuum, but found that no
virtual particles were created in the vacuum’s region of space.
(C) Scientists assembled a superheavy atomic nucleus next to a vacuum, but found that they
could not then detect any real particles in the vacuum’s region of space.
(D) Scientists introduced a virtual electron and a virtual positron into a vacuum’s region of
space, but found that the vacuum did not then fluctuate.
(E) Scientists introduced a real electron and a real positron into a vacuum’s region of space,
but found that the total energy of the space increased by the energy equivalent of the mass
of the particles.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
16/7KGYT2PU

48
RC 17

“Popular art” has a number of meanings, impossible to define with any precision, which range
from folklore to junk. The poles are clear enough, but the middle tends to blur. The
Hollywood Western of the 1930’s, for example, has elements of folklore, but is closer to junk
than to high art or folk art. There can be great trash, just as there is bad high art. The
musicals of George Gershwin are great popular art, never aspiring to high art. Schubert and
Brahms, however, used elements of popular music—folk themes—in works clearly intended as
high art. The case of Verdi is a different one: he took a popular genre—bourgeois melodrama
set to music (an accurate definition of nineteenth-century opera)—&, without altering its
fundamental nature, transmuted it into high art. This remains one of greatest achievements
in music, & one that cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing the essential trashiness
of genre.

As an example of such a transmutation, consider what Verdi made of the typical political
elements of nineteenth-century opera. Generally in the plots of these operas, a hero or
heroine—usually portrayed only as an individual, unfettered by class—is caught between the
immoral corruption of the aristocracy and the doctrinaire rigidity or secret greed of the
leaders of the proletariat. Verdi transforms this naive and unlikely formulation with music of
extraordinary energy and rhythmic vitality, music more subtle than it seems at first hearing.
There are scenes & arias that still sound like calls to arms & were clearly understood as such
when they were first performed. Such pieces lend an immediacy to the otherwise veiled
political message of these operas & call up feelings beyond those of the opera itself.

Or consider Verdi’s treatment of character. Before Verdi, there were rarely any characters at
all in musical drama, only a series of situations which allowed the singers to express a series
of emotional states. Any attempt to find coherent psychological portrayal in these operas is
misplaced ingenuity. The only coherence was the singer’s vocal technique: when the cast
changed, new arias were almost always substituted, generally adapted from other operas.
Verdi’s characters, on the other hand, have genuine consistency & integrity, even if, in many
cases, the consistency is that of pasteboard melodrama. The integrity of the character is
achieved through the music: once he had become established, Verdi did not rewrite his music
for different singers or countenance alterations or substitutions of somebody else’s arias in
one of his operas, as every eighteenth-century composer had done. When he revised an
opera, it was only for dramatic economy & effectiveness.

49
1. The author refers to Schubert and Brahms in order to suggest
(A) that their achievements are no less substantial than those of Verdi
(B) that their works are examples of great trash
(C) the extent to which Schubert and Brahms influenced the later compositions of Verdi
(D) a contrast between the conventions of nineteenth-century opera and those of other
musical forms
(E) that popular music could be employed in compositions intended as high art

2. According to the passage, the immediacy of the political message in Verdi’s operas stems
from the
(A) vitality and subtlety of the music
(B) audience’s familiarity with earlier operas
(C) portrayal of heightened emotional states
(D) individual talents of the singers
(E) verisimilitude of the characters

3. According to the passage, all of the following characterize musical drama before Verdi
EXCEPT:
(A) arias tailored to a particular singer’s ability
(B) adaptation of music from other operas
(C) psychological inconsistency in the portrayal of characters
(D) expression of emotional states in a series of dramatic situations
(E) music used for the purpose of defining a character

4. It can be inferred that the author regards Verdi’s revisions to his operas with
(A) regret that the original music and texts were altered
(B) concern that many of the revisions altered the plots of the original work
(C) approval for the intentions that motivated the revisions
(D) puzzlement, since the revisions seem largely insignificant
(E) enthusiasm, since the revisions were aimed at reducing the conventionality of the operas’
plots

5. One of Verdi’s achievements within the framework of nineteenth-century opera and its
conventions was to
(A) limit the extent to which singers influenced the musical compositions and performance of
his operas
(B) use his operas primarily as forums to protest both the moral corruption and dogmatic
rigidity of the political leaders of his time
(C) portray psychologically complex characters shaped by the political environment
surrounding them
(D) incorporate elements of folklore into both the music and plots of his operas
(E) introduce political elements into an art form that had traditionally avoided political content

6. Which of following best describes the relationship of the first paragraph of the passage to
the passage as a whole?
(A) It provides a group of specific examples from which generalizations are drawn later in the
passage.
50

(B) It leads to an assertion that is supported by examples later in the passage.

(C) It defines terms and relationships that are challenged in an argument later in the
passage.
(D) It briefly compares and contrasts several achievements that are examined in detail later
in the passage.
(E) It explains a method of judging a work of art, a method that is used later in the passage.

7. It can be inferred that author regards the independence from social class of the heroes &
heroines of nineteenth-century opera as
(A) an idealized but fundamentally accurate portrayal of bourgeois life
(B) a plot convention with no real connection to political reality
(C) a plot refinement unique to Verdi
(D) a symbolic representation of the position of the bourgeoisie relative to the aristocracy and
the proletariat
(E) a convention largely seen as irrelevant by audiences

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
17/NR0YZ2RE

51
RC 18

Surprisingly enough, modern historians have rarely interested themselves in the history of
the American South in the period before the South began to become self-consciously and
distinctively “Southern”—the decades after 1815. Consequently, the cultural history of
Britain’s North American empire in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has been
written almost as if the Southern colonies had never existed. The American culture that
emerged during the Colonial and Revolutionary eras has been depicted as having been simply
an extension of New England Puritan culture. However, Professor Davis has recently argued
that the South stood apart from the rest of American society during this early period,
following its own unique pattern of cultural development. The case for Southern
distinctiveness rests upon two related premises: first, that the cultural similarities among the
five Southern colonies were far more impressive than the differences, and second, that what
made those colonies alike also made them different from the other colonies.

The first, for which Davis offers an enormous amount of evidence, can be accepted without
major reservations; the second is far more problematic. What makes the second premise
problematic is the use of the Puritan colonies as a basis for comparison. Quite properly, Davis
decries the excessive influence ascribed by historians to the Puritans in the formation of
American culture. Yet Davis inadvertently adds weight to such ascriptions by using the
Puritans as the standard against which to assess the achievements and contributions of
Southern colonials. Throughout, Davis focuses on the important, and undeniable, differences
between the Southern and Puritan colonies in motives for and patterns of early settlement, in
attitudes toward nature and Native Americans, and in the degree of receptivity to
metropolitan cultural influences.

However, recent scholarship has strongly suggested that those aspects of early New England
culture that seem to have been most distinctly Puritan, such as the strong religious
orientation and the communal impulse, were not even typical of New England as a whole, but
were largely confined to the two colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Thus, what in
contrast to the Puritan colonies appears to Davis to be peculiarly Southern—acquisitiveness, a
strong interest in politics and the law, and a tendency to cultivate metropolitan cultural
models—was not only more typically English than the cultural patterns exhibited by Puritan
Massachusetts and Connecticut, but also almost certainly characteristic of most other early
modern British colonies from Barbados north to Rhode Island and New Hampshire. Within the
larger framework of American colonial life, then, not the Southern but the Puritan colonies
appear to have been distinctive, and even they seem to have been rapidly assimilating to the
dominant cultural patterns by the late Colonial period.
52
1. The author is primarily concerned with
(A) refuting a claim about the influence of Puritan culture on the early American South
(B) refuting a thesis about the distinctiveness of the culture of the early American South
(C) refuting the two premises that underlie Davis’ discussion of culture of the American South
in period before 1815
(D) challenging the hypothesis that early American culture was homogeneous in nature
(E) challenging the contention that the American South made greater contributions to early
American culture than Puritan New England did

2. The passage implies that the attitudes toward Native Americans that prevailed in the
Southern colonies
(A) were in conflict with the cosmopolitan outlook of the South
(B) derived from Southerners’ strong interest in the law
(C) were modeled after those that prevailed in the North
(D) differed from those that prevailed in the Puritan colonies
(E) developed as a response to attitudes that prevailed in Massachusetts and Connecticut

3. According to the author, the depiction of American culture during the Colonial and
Revolutionary eras as an extension of New England Puritan culture reflects the
(A) fact that historians have overestimated the importance of the Puritans in the development
of American culture
(B) fact that early American culture was deeply influenced by the strong religious orientation
of the colonists
(C) failure to recognize important and undeniable cultural differences between New
Hampshire and Rhode Island on the one hand and the Southern colonies on the other
(D) extent to which Massachusetts and Connecticut served as cultural models for the other
American colonies
(E) extent to which colonial America resisted assimilating cultural patterns that were typically
English

4. The author of the passage is in agreement with which of the following elements of Davis’
book?
I. Davis’ claim that acquisitiveness was a characteristic unique to the South during the
Colonial period
II. Davis’ argument that there were significant differences between Puritan and Southern
culture during the Colonial period
III. Davis’ thesis that the Southern colonies shared a common culture
(A) I only (B) II only (C) III only (D) I and II only (E) II and III only

5. It can be inferred that the author would find Davis’ second premise (lines 18-20) more
plausible if it were true that
(A) Puritan culture had displayed the tendency characteristic of the South to cultivate
metropolitan cultural models
(B) Puritan culture had been dominant in all the non-Southern colonies during the
seventeenth and eighteen centuries
(C) the communal impulse and a strong religious orientation had been more prevalent in the
South
53

(D) the various cultural patterns of the Southern colonies had more closely resembled each
other
(E) the cultural patterns characteristic of most early modern British colonies had also been
characteristic of the Puritan colonies

6. Passage suggests that by late Colonial period the tendency to cultivate metropolitan
cultural models was a cultural pattern that was
(A) dying out as Puritan influence began to grow
(B) self-consciously and distinctively Southern
(C) spreading to Massachusetts and Connecticut
(D) more characteristic of the Southern colonies than of England
(E) beginning to spread to Rhode Island and New Hampshire

7. Which of the following statements could most logically follow the last sentence of the
passage?
(A) Thus, had more attention been paid to the evidence, Davis would not have been tempted
to argue that the culture of the South diverged greatly from Puritan culture in the
seventeenth century.
(B) Thus, convergence, not divergence, seems to have characterized the cultural
development of the American colonies in the eighteenth century.
(C) Thus, without the cultural diversity represented by the America South, the culture of
colonial America would certainly have been homogeneous in nature.
(D) Thus, the contribution of Southern colonials to American culture was certainly
overshadowed by that of Puritans.
(E) Thus, the culture of America during the Colonial period was far more sensitive to outside
influences than historians are accustomed to acknowledge.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
18/1V4VJONI

54
RC 19

The earliest controversies about the relationship between photography and art centered on
whether photography’s fidelity to appearances and dependence on a machine allowed it to be
a fine art as distinct from merely a practical art. Throughout the nineteenth century, the
defense of photography was identical with the struggle to establish it as a fine art. Against
the chargethat photography was a soulless, mechanical copying of reality, photographers
asserted that it was instead a privileged way of seeing, a revolt against commonplace vision,
and no less worthy an art than painting.

Ironically, now that photography is securely established as a fine art, many photographers
find it pretentious or irrelevant to label it as such. Serious photographers variously claim to
be finding, recording, impartially observing, witnessing events, exploring themselves—
anything but making works of art. In the nineteenth century, photography’s association with
the real world placed it in an ambivalent relation to art; late in the twentieth century, an
ambivalent relation exists because of the Modernist heritage in art. That important
photographers are no longer willing to debate whether photography is or is not a fine art,
except to proclaim that their own work is not involved with art, shows the extent to which
they simply take for granted the concept of art imposed by the triumph of Modernism: the
better the art, the more subversive it is of the traditional aims of art.

Photographers’ disclaimers of any interest in making art tell us more about the harried status
of the contemporary notion of art than about whether photography is or is not art. For
example, those photographers who suppose that, by taking pictures, they are getting away
from the pretensions of art as exemplified by painting remind us of those Abstract
Expressionist painters who imagined they were getting away from the intellectual austerity of
classical Modernist painting by concentrating on the physical act of painting. Much of
photography’s prestige today derives from the convergence of its aims with those of recent
art, particularly with the dismissal of abstract art implicit in the phenomenon of Pop painting
during the 1960’s. Appreciating photographs is a relief to sensibilities tired of the mental
exertions demanded by abstract art. Classical Modernist painting—that is, abstract art as
developed in different ways by Picasso, Kandinsky, and Matisse—presupposes highly
developed skills of looking and a familiarity with other paintings and the history of art.
Photography, like Pop painting, reassures viewers that art is not hard; photography seems to
be more about its subjects than about art.

Photography, however, has developed all the anxieties and self-consciousness of a classic
Modernist art. Many professionals privately have begun to worry that the promotion of
photography as an activity subversive of the traditional pretensions of art has gone so far
that the public will forget that photography is a distinctive and exalted activity—in short, an
art.
55
1. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with
(A) defining the Modernist attitude toward art
(B) explaining how photography emerged as a fine art after the controversies of the
nineteenth century
(C) explaining the attitudes of serious contemporary photographers toward photography as
art and placing those attitudes in their historical context
(D) defining the various approaches that serious contemporary photographers take toward
their art and assessing the value of each of those approaches
(E) identifying the ways that recent movements in painting and sculpture have influenced the
techniques employed by serious photographers

2. Which of following adjectives best describes “the concept of art imposed by the triumph of
Modernism” as the author represents ?
(A) Objective (B) Mechanical (C) Superficial (D) Dramatic (E) Paradoxical

3. The author introduces Abstract Expressionist painters in order to

(A) provide example of artists who, like serious contemporary photographers, disavowed
traditionally accepted aims of modern art
(B) call attention to artists whose works often bear a physical resemblance to the works of
serious contemporary photographers
(C) set forth an analogy between the Abstract Expressionist painters and classical Modernist
painters
(D) provide a contrast to Pop artists and others who created works that exemplify the
Modernist heritage in art
(E) provide an explanation of why serious photography, like other contemporary visual forms,
is not and should not pretend to be an art

4. According to author, the nineteenth-century defenders of photography mentioned in the

passage stressed that photography was
(A) a means of making people familiar with remote locales and unfamiliar things
(B) a technologically advanced activity
(C) a device for observing the world impartially
(D) an art comparable to painting
(E) an art that would eventually replace the traditional arts

5. Which of following best explains the reaction of serious contemporary photographers to

question of whether photography is an art?
(A) The photographers’ belief that their reliance on an impersonal machine to produce their
art requires the surrender of the authority of their personal vision
(B) The photographers’ fear that serious photography may not be accepted as an art by the
contemporary art public
(C) The influence of Abstract Expressionist painting and Pop Art on the subject matter of the
modern photograph
(D) The photographers’ belief that the best art is subversive of art as it has previously been
defined
(E) The notorious difficulty of defining art in its relation to realistic representation
56
6. As per passage, certain serious contemporary photographers expressly make which of the
following claims about their photographs?
(A) Their photographs could be created by almost anyone who had a camera and the time to
devote to the activity.
(B) Their photographs are not examples of art but are examples of the photographers’
impartial observation of the world.
(C) Their photographs are important because of their subjects but not because of the
responses they evoke in viewers.
(D) Their photographs exhibit the same ageless principles of form and shading that have
been used in painting.
(E) Their photographs represent a conscious glorification of the mechanical aspects of
twentieth-century life.

7. It can be inferred from passage that the author most probably considers serious
contemporary photography to be a
(A) contemporary art that is struggling to be accepted as fine art
(B) craft requiring sensitivity but by no means an art
(C) mechanical copying of reality
(D) modern art that displays the Modernist tendency to try to subvert the prevailing aims of
art
(E) modern art that displays the tendency of all Modernist art to become increasingly formal
and abstract

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
57/N3PXZ2TR

57
RC 20

For some time scientists have believed that cholesterol plays a major role in heart disease
because people with familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic defect, have six to eight times
the normal level of cholesterol in their blood and they invariably develop heart disease. These
people lack cell-surface receptors for low-density lipoproteins (LDL’s), which are the
fundamental carriers of blood cholesterol to the body cells that use cholesterol. Without an
adequate number of cell-surface receptors to remove LDL’s from the blood, the cholesterol-
carrying LDL’s remain in the blood, increasing blood cholesterol levels. Scientists also noticed
that people with familial hypercholesterolemia appear to produce more LDL’s than normal
individuals. How, scientists wondered, could a genetic mutation that causes a slowdown in
the removal of LDL’s from the blood also result in an increase in the synthesis of this
cholesterol-carrying protein?

Since scientists could not experiment on human body tissue, their knowledge of familial
hypercholesterolemia was severely limited. However, a breakthrough came in the laboratories
of Yoshio Watanabe of Kobe University in Japan in 1980. Watanabe noticed that a male rabbit
in his colony had ten times the normal concentration of cholesterol in its blood. By
appropriate breeding, Watanabe obtained a strain of rabbits that had very high cholesterol
levels. These rabbits spontaneously developed heart disease. To his surprise, Watanabe
further found that the rabbits, like humans with familial hypercholesterolemia, lacked LDL
receptors. Thus, scientists could study these Watanabe rabbits to gain a better understanding
of familial hypercholesterolemia in humans.

Prior to the breakthrough at Kobe University, it was known that LDL’s are secreted from the
liver in the form of a precursor, called very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL’s), which carry
triglycerides as well as relatively small amounts of cholesterol. The triglycerides are removed
from the VLDL’s by fatty and other tissues. What remains is a remnant particle that must be
removed from the blood. What scientists learned by studying the Watanabe rabbits is that the
removal of the VLDL remnant requires the LDL receptor. Normally, the majority of the VLDL
remnants go to the liver where they bind to LDL receptors and are degraded. In the
Watanabe rabbit, due to a lack of LDL receptors on liver cells, the VLDL remnants remain in
the blood and are eventually converted to LDL’s. The LDL receptors thus have a dual effect in
controlling LDL levels. They are necessary to prevent oversynthesis of LDL’s from VLDL
remnants and they are necessary for the normal removal of LDL’s from the blood. With this
knowledge, scientists are now well on the way toward developing drugs that dramatically
lower cholesterol levels in people afflicted with certain forms of familial hypercholesterolemia.

58
1. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with
(A) presenting a hypothesis and describing compelling evidence in support of it
(B) raising a question and describing an important discovery that led to an answer
(C) showing that a certain genetically caused disease can be treated effectively with drugs
(D) explaining what causes the genetic mutation that leads to heart disease
(E) discussing the importance of research on animals for the study of human disease

2. Which of following drugs, if developed, would be example of the kind of drug mentioned in
last line of the passage?
(A) A drug that stimulates the production of VLDL remnants
(B) A drug that stimulates the production of LDL receptors on the liver
(C) A drug that stimulates the production of an enzyme needed for cholesterol production
(D) A drug that suppresses the production of body cells that use cholesterol
(E) A drug that prevents triglycerides from attaching to VLDL’s

3. The passage supplies information to answer which of the following questions?

(A) Which body cells are the primary users of cholesterol?
(B) How did scientists discover that LDL’s are secreted from liver in the form of a precursor?
(C) Where in the body are VLDL remnants degraded?
(D) Which body tissues produce triglycerides?
(E) What techniques are used to determine the presence or absence of cell-surface receptors?

4. According to the passage, by studying the Watanabe rabbits scientists learned that
(A) VLDL remnants are removed from the blood by LDL receptors in the liver
(B) LDL’s are secreted from the liver in the form of precursors called VLDL’s
(C) VLDL remnant particles contain small amounts of cholesterol
(D) triglycerides are removed from VLDL’s by fatty tissues
(E) LDL receptors remove LDL’s from the blood

5. The development of drug treatments for some forms of familial hypercholesterolemia is

regarded by the author as
(A) possible, but not very important
(B) interesting, but too costly to be practical
(C) promising, but many years off
(D) extremely unlikely
(E) highly probable

6. Passage implies that if the Watanabe rabbits had had as many LDL receptors on their livers
as do normal rabbits, the Watanabe rabbits would have been
(A) less likely than normal rabbits to develop heart disease
(B) less likely than normal rabbits to develop high concentrations of cholesterol in their blood
(C) less useful than they actually were to scientists in the study of familial
hypercholesterolemia in humans
(D) unable to secrete VLDL’s from their livers
(E) immune to drugs that lower cholesterol levels in people with certain forms of familial
hypercholesterolemia
59
7. Passage implies that Watanabe rabbits differ from normal rabbits in which of following way
(A) Watanabe rabbits have more LDL receptors than do normal rabbits.
(B) The blood of Watanabe rabbits contains more VLDL remnants than does the blood of
normal rabbits.
(C) Watanabe rabbits have fewer fatty tissues than do normal rabbits.
(D) Watanabe rabbits secrete lower levels of VLDL’s than do normal rabbits.
(E) The blood of Watanabe rabbits contains fewer LDL’s than does the blood of normal rabbits

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
20/HAIFRYCL

60
RC 21

Until recently astronomers have been puzzled by the fate of red giant and supergiant stars.
When the core of a giant star whose mass surpasses 1.4 times the present mass of our Sun
(M⊙) exhausts its nuclear fuel, it is unable to support its own weight and collapses into a tiny
neutron star. The gravitational energy released during this implosion of the core blows off the
remainder of the star in a gigantic explosion, or a supernova. Since around 50 percent of all
stars are believed to begin their lives with masses greater than 1.4M⊙, we might expect that
one out of every two stars would die as a supernova. But in fact, only one star in thirty dies
such a violent death. The rest expire much more peacefully as planetary nebulas. Apparently
most massive stars manage to lose sufficient material that their masses drop below the
critical value of 1.4 M⊙ before they exhaust their nuclear fuel.

Evidence supporting this view comes from observations of IRC+10216, a pulsating giant star
located 700 light-years away from Earth. A huge rate of mass loss (1 M⊙ every 10,000
years) has been deduced from infrared observations of ammonia (NH3) molecules located in
the circumstellar cloud around IRC+10216. Recent microwave observations of carbon
monoxide (CO) molecules indicate a similar rate of mass loss and demonstrate that the
escaping material extends outward from the star for a distance of at least one light-year.
Because we know the size of the cloud around IRC+10216 and can use our observations of
either NH3 or CO to measure the outflow velocity, we can calculate an age for the
circumstellar cloud. IRC+10216 has apparently expelled, in the form of molecules and dust
grains, a mass equal to that of our entire Sun within the past ten thousand years. This
implies that some stars can shed huge amounts of matter very quickly and thus may never
expire as supernovas. Theoretical models as well as statistics on supernovas and planetary
nebulas suggest that stars that begin their lives with masses around 6 M⊙ shed sufficient
material to drop below the critical value of 1.4 M⊙. IRC+10216, for example, should do this
in a mere 50,000 years from its birth, only an instant in the life of a star.

But what place does IRC+10216 have in stellar evolution? Astronomers suggest that stars
like IRC+10216 are actually “protoplanetary nebulas”—old giant stars whose dense cores
have almost but not quite rid themselves of the fluffy envelopes of gas around them. Once
the star has lost the entire envelope, its exposed core becomes the central star of the
planetary nebula and heats and ionizes the last vestiges of the envelope as it flows away into
space. This configuration is a full-fledged planetary nebula, long familiar to optical
astronomers.

61
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) offer a method of calculating the age of circumstellar clouds
(B) describe the conditions that result in a star’s expiring as a supernova
(C) discuss new evidence concerning the composition of planetary nebulas
(D) explain why fewer stars than predicted expire as supernovas
(E) survey conflicting theories concerning the composition of circumstellar clouds

2. The passage implies that at the beginning of the life of IRC+10216, its mass was
approximately
(A) 7.0 M⊙ (B) 6.0 M⊙ (C) 5.0 M⊙ (D) 1.4 M⊙ (E) 1.0 M⊙

3. The view in the 2nd para serves to

(A) reconcile seemingly contradictory facts
(B) undermine a previously held theory
(C) take into account data previously held to be insignificant
(D) resolve a controversy
(E) question new methods of gathering data

4. It can be inferred that the author assumes which of the following in the discussion of the
rate at which IRC+10216 loses mass?
(A) The circumstellar cloud surrounding IRC+10216 consists only of CO and NH3 molecules.
(B) The circumstellar cloud surrounding IRC+10216 consists of material expelled from that
star.
(C) The age of a star is equal to that of its circumstellar cloud.
(D) The rate at which IRC+10216 loses mass varies significantly from year to year.
(E) Stars with a mass greater than 6 M⊙ lose mass at a rate faster than stars with a mass
less than 6 M⊙ do.

5. Which of the following stars would astronomers most likely describe as a planetary nebula?
(A) A star that began its life with a mass of 5.5 M⊙, has exhausted its nuclear fuel, and has a
core that is visible to astronomers
(B) A star that began its life with a mass of 6 M⊙, lost mass at a rate of 1 M⊙ per 10,000
years, and exhausted its nuclear fuel in 40,000 years
(C) A star that has exhausted its nuclear fuel, has a mass of 1.2 M⊙, and is surrounded by a
circumstellar cloud that obscures its core from view
(D) A star that began its life with a mass greater than 6 M⊙, has just recently exhausted its
nuclear fuel, and is in the process of releasing massive amounts of gravitational energy
(E) A star that began its life with a mass of 5.5 M⊙, has yet to exhaust its nuclear fuel, and
exhibits a rate of mass loss similar to that of IRC+10216

6. Which of the following statements would be most likely to follow the last sentence of the
passage?
(A) Supernovas are not necessarily the most spectacular events that astronomers have
occasion to observe.
(B) Apparently, stars that have a mass of greater than 6 M⊙ are somewhat rare.
(C) Recent studies of CO and NH3 in the circumstellar clouds of stars similar to IRC+10216
have led astronomers to believe that the formation of planetary nebulas precedes the
62

development of supernovas.
(D) It appears, then, that IRC+10216 actually represents an intermediate step in the
evolution of a giant star into a planetary nebula.
(E) Astronomers have yet to develop a consistently accurate method for measuring the rate
at which a star exhausts its nuclear fuel.

7. Which of the following titles best summarizes the content of the passage?
(A) New Methods of Calculating the Age of Circumstellar Clouds
(B) New Evidence Concerning the Composition of Planetary Nebulas
(C) Protoplanetary Nebula: A Rarely Observed Phenomenon
(D) Planetary Nebulas: An Enigma to Astronomers
(E) The Diminution of a Star’s Mass: A Crucial Factor in Stellar Evolution

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
21/EYKRAG6J

63
RC 22

Students of United States history, seeking to identify the circumstances that encouraged the
emergence of feminist movements, have thoroughly investigated the mid-nineteenth-century
American economic & social conditions that affected the status of women. These historians,
however, have analyzed less fully development of specifically feminist ideas & activities
during the same period. Furthermore, the ideological origins of feminism in the United States
have been obscured because, even when historians did take into account those feminist ideas
& activities occurring within the United States, they failed to recognize that feminism was
then a truly international movement actually centered in Europe. American feminist activists
who have been described as “solitary” & “individual theorists” were in reality connected to a
movement—utopian socialism—which was already popularizing feminist ideas in Europe
during the two decades that culminated in the first women’s rights conference held at Seneca
Falls, New York, in 1848. Thus, a complete understanding of the origins & development of
nineteenth-century feminism in the United States requires that the geographical focus be
widened to include Europe & that the detailed study already made of social conditions be
expanded to include the ideological development of feminism.

The earliest and most popular of the utopian socialists were the Saint-Simonians. The
specifically feminist part of Saint-Simonianism has, however, been less studied than the
group’s contribution to early socialism. This is regrettable on two counts. By 1832 feminism
was the central concern of Saint-Simonianism and entirely absorbed its adherents’ energy;
hence, by ignoring its feminism, European historians have misunderstood Saint-Simonianism.
Moreover, since many feminist ideas can be traced to Saint-Simonianism, European
historians’ appreciation of later feminism in France and the United States remained limited.

Saint-Simon’s followers, many of whom were women, based their feminism on an

interpretation of his project to reorganize the globe by replacing brute force with the rule of
spiritual powers. The new world order would be ruled together by a male, to represent
reflection, and a female, to represent sentiment. This complementarity reflects the fact that,
while the Saint-Simonians did not reject the belief that there were innate differences between
men and women, they nevertheless foresaw an equally important social and political role for
both sexes in their utopia.

Only a few Saint-Simonians opposed a definition of sexual equality based on gender

distinction. This minority believed that individuals of both sexes were born similar in capacity
and character, and they ascribed male-female differences to socialization and education. The
envisioned result of both currents of thought, however, was that women would enter public
life in the new age and that sexual equality would reward men as well as women with an
improved way of life.
64
1. It can be inferred that the author considers those historians who describe early feminists in
the United States as “solitary” to be
(A) insufficiently familiar with the international origins of nineteenth-century American
feminist thought
(B) overly concerned with the regional diversity of feminist ideas in the period before 1848
(C) not focused narrowly enough in their geographical scope
(D) insufficiently aware of the ideological consequences of the Seneca Falls conference
(E) insufficiently concerned with the social conditions out of which feminism developed

2. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the Seneca Falls conference on
women’s rights?
(A) It was primarily a product of nineteenth-century Saint-Simonian feminist thought.
(B) It was the work of American activists who were independent of feminists abroad.
(C) It was the culminating achievement of the utopian socialist movement.
(D) It was a manifestation of an international movement for social change and feminism.
(E) It was the final manifestation of the women’s rights movement in the United States in the
nineteenth century.

3. The author’s attitude toward most European historians who have studied the Saint-
Simonians is primarily one of
(A) approval of the specific focus of their research
(B) disapproval of their lack of attention to the issue that absorbed most of the Saint-
Simonians’ energy after 1832
(C) approval of their general focus on social conditions
(D) disapproval of their lack of attention to links between the Saint-Simonians and their
American counterparts
(E) disagreement with their interpretation of the Saint-Simonian belief in sexual equality

4. The author mentions all of the following as characteristic of the Saint-Simonians EXCEPT:
(A) The group included many women among its members.
(B) The group believed in a world that would be characterized by sexual equality.
(C) The group was among the earliest European socialist groups.
(D) Most members believed that women should enter public life.
(E) Most members believed that women and men were inherently similar in ability and
character.

5. It can be inferred that the Saint-Simonians envisioned a utopian society having which of
the following characteristics?
(A) It would be worldwide.
(B) It would emphasize dogmatic religious principles.
(C) It would most influence the United States.
(D) It would have armies composed of women rather than of men
(E) It would continue to develop new feminist ideas.

6. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes that study of Saint-
Simonianism is necessary for historians of American feminism because such study
(A) would clarify the ideological origins of those feminist ideas that influenced American
65

feminism
(B) would increase understanding of a movement that deeply influenced the utopian socialism
of early American feminists
(C) would focus attention on the most important aspect of Saint-Simonian thought before
1832
(D) promises to offer insight into a movement that was a direct outgrowth of the Seneca Falls
conference of 1848
(E) could increase understanding of those ideals that absorbed most of the energy of the
earliest American feminists

7. Which of the following would be the most accurate description of the society envisioned by
most Saint-Simonians?
(A) A society in which women were highly regarded for their extensive education
(B) A society in which the two genders played complementary roles and had equal status
(C) A society in which women did not enter public life
(D) A social order in which a body of men and women would rule together on the basis of
their spiritual power
(E) A social order in which distinctions between male and female would not exist and all
would share equally in political power

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
22/GSTACX86

66
RC 23

Of the thousands of specimens of meteorites found on Earth and known to science, only
about 100 are igneous; that is, they have undergone melting by volcanic action at some time
since the planets were first formed. These igneous meteorites are known as achondrites
because they lack chondrules—small stony spherules found in the thousands of meteorites
(called “chondrites”) composed primarily of unaltered minerals that condensed from dust and
gas at the origin of the solar system. Achondrites are the only known samples of volcanic
rocks originating outside the Earth-Moon system. Most are thought to have been dislodged by
interbody impact from asteroids, with diameters of from 10 to 500 kilometers, in solar orbit
between Mars and Jupiter.

Shergottites, the name given to three anomalous achondrites so far discovered on Earth,
present scientists with a genuine enigma. Shergottites crystallized from molten rock less than
1.1 billion years ago (some 3.5 billion years later than typical achondrites) & were
presumably ejected into space when an object impacted on a body similar in chemical
composition to Earth.

While most meteorites appear to derive from comparatively small bodies, shergottites exhibit
properties that indicate that their source was a large planet, conceivably Mars. In order to
account for such an unlikely source, some unusual factor must be invoked, because the
impact needed to accelerate a fragment of rock to escape the gravitational field of a body
even as small as the Moon is so great that no meteorites of lunar origin have been
discovered.

While some scientists speculate that shergottites derive from Io (a volcanically active moon of
Jupiter), recent measurements suggest that since Io’s surface is rich in sulfur and sodium,
the chemical composition of its volcanic products would probably be unlike that of the
shergottites. Moreover, any fragments dislodged from Io by interbody impact would be
unlikely to escape the gravitational pull of Jupiter.

The only other logical source of shergottites is Mars. Space-probe photographs indicate the
existence of giant volcanoes on the Martian surface. From the small number of impact craters
that appear on Martian lava flows, one can estimate that the planet was volcanically active as
recently as a half-billion years ago—and may be active today. The great objection to the
Martian origin of shergottites is the absence of lunar meteorites on Earth. An impact capable
of ejecting a fragment of the Martian surface into an Earth-intersecting orbit is even less
probable than such an event on the Moon, in view of the Moon’s smaller size and closer
proximity to Earth. A recent study suggests, however, that permafrost ices below the surface
of Mars may have altered the effects of impact on it. If the ices had been rapidly vaporized by
an impacting object, the expanding gases might have helped the ejected fragments reach
escape velocity. Finally, analyses performed by space probes show a remarkable chemical
similarity between Martian soil and the shergottites.
67
1. The passage implies which of the following about shergottites?
I. They are products of volcanic activity. II. They derive from a planet larger than Earth.
III. They come from a planetary body with a chemical composition similar to that of Io.
(A) I only (B) II only (C) I and II only (D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III

2. A meteorite discovered on Earth is unlikely to have come from a large planet for which of
the following reasons?
(A) There are fewer large planets in the solar system than there are asteroids.
(B) Most large planets have been volcanically inactive for more than a billion years.
(C) The gravitational pull of a large planet would probably prohibit fragments from escaping
its orbit.
(D) There are no chondrites occurring naturally on Earth and probably none on other large
planets.
(E) Interbody impact is much rarer on large than on small planets because of density of
atmosphere on large planets.

3. The passage suggests that the age of shergottites is probably

(A) still entirely undetermined
(B) less than that of most other achondrites
(C) about 3.5 billion years
(D) the same as that of typical achondrites
(E) greater than that of the Earth

4. According to passage, presence of chondrules in a meteorite indicates that the meteorite

(A) has probably come from Mars
(B) is older than the solar system itself
(C) has not been melted since the solar system formed
(D) is certainly less than 4 billion years old
(E) is a small fragment of an asteroid

5. The passage provides information to answer which of the following questions?

(A) What is the precise age of the solar system?
(B) How did shergottites get their name?
(C) What are the chemical properties shared by shergottites and Martian soils?
(D) How volcanically active is the planet Jupiter?
(E) What is a major feature of the Martian surface?

6. It can be inferred from the passage that each of the following is a consideration in
determining whether a particular planet is a possible source of shergottites that have been
discovered on Earth EXCEPT the
(A) planet’s size
(B) planet’s distance from Earth
(C) strength of the planet’s field of gravity
(D) proximity of the planet to its moons
(E) chemical composition of the planet’s surface

7. It can be inferred that most meteorites found on Earth contain which of the following?
68

(A) Crystals (B) Chondrules (C) Metals (D) Sodium (E) Sulfur
Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
23/Y9OMJST4
RC 24

Practically speaking, the artistic maturing of the cinema was the single-handed achievement
of David W. Griffith (1875-1948). Before Griffith, photography in dramatic films consisted of
little more than placing the actors before a stationary camera & showing them in full length
as they would have appeared on stage. From the beginning of his career as a director,
however, Griffith, because of his love of Victorian painting, employed composition. He
conceived of the camera image as having a foreground and a rear ground, as well as the
middle distance preferred by most directors. By 1910 he was using close-ups to reveal
significant details of the scene or of the acting and extreme long shots to achieve a sense of
spectacle & distance. His appreciation of the camera’s possibilities produced novel dramatic
effects. By splitting an event into fragments and recording each from the most suitable
camera position, he could significantly vary the emphasis from camera shot to camera shot.

Griffith also achieved dramatic effects by means of creative editing. By juxtaposing images
and varying the speed and rhythm of their presentation, he could control the dramatic
intensity of the events as the story progressed. Despite the reluctance of his producers, who
feared that the public would not be able to follow a plot that was made up of such juxtaposed
images, Griffith persisted, & experimented as well with other elements of cinematic syntax
that have become standard ever since. These included the flashback, permitting broad
psychological and emotional exploration as well as narrative that was not chronological, & the
crosscut between two parallel actions to heighten suspense & excitement. In thus exploiting
fully the possibilities of editing, Griffith transposed devices of the Victorian novel to film &
gave film mastery of time as well as space.

Besides developing the cinema’s language, Griffith immensely broadened its range and
treatment of subjects. His early output was remarkably eclectic: it included not only the
standard comedies, melodramas, westerns, and thrillers, but also such novelties as
adaptations from Browning and Tennyson, and treatments of social issues. As his successes
mounted, his ambitions grew, and with them the whole of American cinema. When he remade
Enoch Arden in 1911, he insisted that a subject of such importance could not be treated in
the then conventional length of one reel. Griffith’s introduction of the American-made
multireel picture began an immense revolution. Two years later, Judith of Bethulia, an
elaborate historicophilosophical spectacle, reached the unprecedented length of four reels, or
one hour’s running time. From our contemporary viewpoint, the pretensions of this film may
seem a trifle ludicrous, but at the time it provoked endless debate and discussion and gave a
new intellectual respectability to the cinema.

69
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) discuss the importance of Griffith to the development of the cinema
(B) describe the impact on cinema of the flashback and other editing innovations
(C) deplore the state of American cinema before the advent of Griffith
(D) analyze the changes in the cinema wrought by the introduction of the multireel film
(E) document Griffith’s impact on the choice of subject matter in American films

2. The author suggests that Griffith’s film innovations had a direct effect on all of the
following EXCEPT:
(A) film editing (B) camera work (C) scene composing (D) sound editing (E) directing

3. It can be inferred from the passage that before 1910 the normal running time of a film was
(A) 15 minutes or less
(B) between 15 and 30 minutes
(C) between 30 and 45 minutes
(D) between 45 minutes and 1 hour
(E) 1 hour or more

4. The author asserts that Griffith introduced all of the following into American cinema
EXCEPT:
(A) consideration of social issues
(B) adaptations from Tennyson
(C) the flashback and other editing techniques
(D) photographic approaches inspired by Victorian painting
(E) dramatic plots suggested by Victorian theater

5. The author suggests that Griffith’s contributions to cinema had which of following results?
I. Literary works, especially Victorian novels, became popular sources for film subjects.
II. Audience appreciation of other film directors’ experimentations with cinematic syntax was
increased.
III. Many of the artistic limitations thought to be inherent in filmmaking were shown to be
really nonexistent.
(A) II only (B) III only (C) I and II only (D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III

6. It can be inferred that Griffith would be most likely to agree with which of the following
statements?
(A) The good director will attempt to explore new ideas as quickly as possible.
(B) The most important element contributing to a film’s success is the ability of the actors.
(C) The camera must be considered an integral and active element in the creation of a film.
(D) The cinema should emphasize serious and sober examinations of fundamental human
problems.
(E) The proper composition of scenes in a film is more important than the details of their
editing.

7. The author’s attitude toward photography in the cinema before Griffith can best be
described as
(A) Sympathetic (B) nostalgic (C) amused (D) condescending (E) hostile
70

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
24/CTEFC2YK
RC 25

Modern archaeological finds can still contribute much to the study of ancient literature. For
example, forty years ago a survey of the early Greek dramatist Aeschylus’ plays would have
started with The Suppliant Women. Many factors internal to the play, but perhaps most
especially the prominence of the chorus (which in this play has the main role), led scholars to
consider it one of Aeschylus’ earlier works. The consensus was that here was a drama truly
reflecting an early stage in the evolution of tragedy out of choral lyric. The play was dated as
early as the 490’s B.C., in any event, well before Aeschylus’ play The Persians of 472 B.C.
Then, in 1952, a fragment of papyrus found at Oxyrhynchus was published stating the official
circumstances and results of a dramatic contest. The fragment announced that Aeschylus won
first prize with his Danaid tetralogy, of which The Suppliant Women is the opening play, and
defeated Sophocles in the process. Sophocles did not compete in any dramatic contest before
468 B.C., when he won his first victory. Hence, except by special pleading (e. g., that the
tetralogy was composed early in Aeschylus’ career but not produced until the 460’s B.C.), the
Danaid tetralogy must be put after 468 B.C. In addition, a few letters in the fragment suggest
the name Archedemides, archon in 463 B.C., thus perhaps tying the plays to that precise
date, almost exactly halfway between Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes of 467 B.C. and his
Oresteia.

The implication of the papyrus administered a severe shock to the vast majority of classical
scholars, who had confidently asserted that not only the role of the chorus but also language,
metrics, and characterization all pointed to an early date. The discovery has resulted in no
less than a total reevaluation of every chronological criterion that has been applied to or
derived from Aeschylus’ plays. The activity has been brisk, and a new creed has now spread.
The prominence of the chorus in The Suppliant Women now is seen not as a sign of
primitivism but as analogous to the massive choral songs of the Oresteia. Statistics have
been formulated, or reformulated, to show that stylistically The Suppliant Women does
actually occupy a position after The Persians and Seven Against Thebes, which now become
the “primitive” plays, and before the Oresteia. While the new doctrine seems almost certainly
correct, the one papyrus fragment raises the specter that another may be unearthed,
showing, for instance, that it was a posthumous production of the Danaid tetralogy which
bested Sophocles, and throwing the date once more into utter confusion. This is unlikely to
happen, but it warns us that perhaps the most salutary feature of the papyrus scrap is its
message of the extreme difficulty of classifying and categorizing rigidly the development of a
creative artist.

71
1. The author of the passage focuses primarily on
(A) discussing a series of modern archaeological finds and their impact on the study of Greek
literature
(B) recounting the effect of one archaeological find on modern ideas concerning a particular
author’s work
(C) giving a definitive and coherent account of the chronology of a particular author’s work
(D) illustrating the many varieties of difficulties involved in establishing facts concerning
ancient literature
(E) determining the exact value of archaeological finds in relation to the history of ancient
literature

2. With respect to the study of ancient literature, which of the following statements best
expresses the author’s main point concerning modern archaeological finds?
(A) They can profoundly alter accepted views of ancient literary works, and can encourage
flexibility in the way scholars look at the creative development of any artist.
(B) They can be severely shocking and can have a revivifying effect on the study of ancient
literature, which has recently suffered from a lack of interest on the part of scholars.
(C) They can raise more questions than they answer and can be unreliable sources of
information.
(D) They generally confirm scholars’ ideas about ancient literary works and allow them to
dispense with inferences drawn from the works’ internal structure.
(E) They often undermine scholarly consensus in certain areas and create utter confusion
concerning an author’s work.

3. According to the passage, in the absence of definite knowledge concerning the dates of
composition of ancient literary works, literary historians do which of the following when trying
to establish the chronology of an author’s work?
(A) Make assumptions about a single work’s date of composition if such assumptions would
not seriously affect interpretations of other works by the same author.
(B) Draw inferences concerning the date of a work’s composition based on evidence internal
to that work and on the author’s other works.
(C) Ignore the date of a work’s composition which is supplied by archaeological research
when literary factors internal to the work contradict that date.
(D) Refrain from speculation concerning a work’s date of composition unless archaeological
finds produce information concerning it.
(E) Estimate the date of a work’s composition without attempting to relate it to the author’s
development as an artist.

4. It can be inferred that which of the following plays or groups of plays is considered the
latest in the date of its composition?
(A) The Persians
(B) The Danaid tetralogy
(C) The Oresteia
(D) Seven Against Thebes
(E) The Suppliant Women

5. With which of following statements regarding the chronological criteria would author be
72

most likely to agree

(A) Such criteria, whether applied to or derived from the plays, should only be used to
confirm already existing knowledge.
(B) Such criteria, although derived from reliable external & internal evidence,should be
changed continually to avoid rigidity in thinking
(C) Such criteria, based on statistical analysis, are inherently more reliable than those of forty
years ago.
(D) Such criteria, even when unsupported by external evidence, can resolve most questions.
(E) Such criteria, based on often ambiguous internal evidence, can lead to erroneous
reconstructions of chronology of an author’s work

6. The author’s attitude toward the “activity” and its consequences can best be described as
one of
(A) amused tolerance
(B) mocking envy
(C) grave doubt
(D) angry disapproval
(E)unrestrained enthusiasm

7. The allusion to the hypothetical papyrus fragment does which of the following?
(A) Supports an argument concerning the date of The Suppliant Women.
(B) Refutes the views of the majority of scholars concerning the Oxyrhynchus papyrus find.
(C) Predicts the future results of archaeological research proposed in the passage.
(D) Undermines the validity of the currently accepted chronology of Aeschylus’ works.
(E) Qualifies the author’s agreement with the “new creed” developed since the Oxyrhynchus
papyrus find.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
25/F5SHLDNG

73
RC 26

Traditionally, pollination by wind has been viewed as a reproductive process marked by

random events in which the vagaries of the wind are compensated for by the generation of
vast quantities of pollen, so that the ultimate production of new seeds is assured at the
expense of producing much more pollen than is actually used. Because the potential hazards
pollen grains are subject to as they are transported over long distances are enormous, wind-
pollinated plants have, in the view above, compensated for the ensuing loss of pollen through
happenstance by virtue of producing an amount of pollen that is one to three orders of
magnitude greater than the amount produced by species pollinated by insects.

However, a number of features that are characteristic of wind-pollinated plants reduce pollen
waste. For example, many wind-pollinated species fail to release pollen when wind speeds are
low or when humid conditions prevail. Recent studies suggest another way in which species
compensate for the inefficiency of wind pollination. These studies suggest that species
frequently take advantage of the physics of pollen motion by generating specific aerodynamic
environments within the immediate vicinity of their female reproductive organs. It is the
morphology of these organs that dictates the pattern of airflow disturbances through which
pollen must travel. The speed and direction of the airflow disturbances can combine with the
physical properties of a species’ pollen to produce a species-specific pattern of pollen collision
on the surfaces of female reproductive organs. Provided that these surfaces are strategically
located, the consequences of this combination can significantly increase the pollen-capture
efficiency of a female reproductive organ.

A critical question that remains to be answered is whether the morphological attributes of the
female reproductive organs of wind-pollinated species are evolutionary adaptations to wind
pollination or are merely fortuitous. A complete resolution of the question is as yet impossible
since adaptation must be evaluated for each species within its own unique functional context.
However, it must be said that, while evidence of such evolutionary adaptations does exist in
some species, one must be careful about attributing morphology to adaptation. For example,
the spiral arrangement of scale-bract complexes on ovule-bearing pine cones, where the
female reproductive organs of conifers are located, is important to the production of airflow
patterns that spiral over the cone’s surfaces, thereby passing airborne pollen from one scale
to the next. However, these patterns cannot be viewed as an adaptation to wind pollination
because the

spiral arrangement occurs in a number of non-wind-pollinated plant lineages and is regarded

as a characteristic of vascular plants, of which conifers are only one kind, as a whole.
Therefore, the spiral arrangement is not likely to be the result of a direct adaptation to wind
pollination.
74
1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with discussing
(A) the current debate on whether the morphological attributes of wind-pollinated plants are
evolutionary adaptations
(B) the kinds of airflow patterns that permit wind-pollinated plants to capture pollen most
efficiently
(C) the ways in which the reproductive processes of wind-pollinated plants are controlled by
random events
(D) a recently proposed explanation of a way in which wind-pollinated plants reduce pollen
waste
(E) a specific morphological attribute that permits one species of wind-pollinated plant to
capture pollen

2. The author suggests that explanations of wind pollination that emphasize the production of
vast quantities of pollen to compensate for the randomness of the pollination process are
(A) debatable and misleading
(B) ingenious and convincing
(C) accurate but incomplete
(D) intriguing but controversial
(E) plausible but unverifiable

3. The “aerodynamic environments”, when they are produced, are primarily determined by
(A) presence of insects near the plant
(B) physical properties of the plant’s pollen
(C) shape of the plant’s female reproductive organs
(D) amount of pollen generated by the plant
(E) number of seeds produced by the plant

4. According to the passage, true statements about the release of pollen by wind-pollinated
plants include which of the following?
I. The release can be affected by certain environmental factors.
II. The amount of pollen released increases on a rainy day.
III. Pollen is sometimes not released by plants when there is little wind.
(A) II only (B) III only (C) I and II only (D) I and III only (E) I, II, and III

5.The passage suggests that the recent studies have not done which of following?
(A) Made any distinctions between different species of wind-pollinated plants.
(B) Considered the physical properties of the pollen that is produced by wind-pollinated
plants.
(C) Indicated the general range within which plant-generated airflow disturbances are apt to
occur.
(D) Included investigations of the physics of pollen motion and its relationship to the efficient
capture of pollen by the female reproductive organs of wind-pollinated plants.
(E) Demonstrated that the morphological attributes of the female reproductive organs of
wind-pollinated plants are usually evolutionary adaptations to wind pollination.

6. It can be inferred that the claim that the spiral arrangement of scale-bract complexes on
an ovule-bearing pine cone is an adaptation to wind pollination would be more convincing if
75

which of the following were true?

(A) Such an arrangement occurred only in wind-pollinated plants.
(B) Such an arrangement occurred in vascular plants as a whole.
(C) Such an arrangement could be shown to be beneficial to pollen release.
(D) The number of bracts could be shown to have increased over time.
(E) The airflow patterns over the cone’s surfaces could be shown to be produced by such
arrangements.

7. Which of following, if known, is likely to have been the kind of evidence used to support
the view described in the first paragraph?
(A) Wind speeds need not be very low for wind-pollinated plants to fail to release pollen.
(B) The female reproductive organs of plants often have a sticky surface that allows them to
trap airborne pollen systematically.
(C) Grasses, as well as conifers, generate specific aerodynamic environments within the
immediate vicinity of their reproductive organs.
(D) Rain showers often wash airborne pollen out of the air before it ever reaches an
appropriate plant.
(E) The density & size of an airborne pollen grain are of equal importance in determining
whether that grain will be captured by a plant

Link:https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
26/NQIP0426

76
RC 27

It has been known for many decades that the appearance of sunspots is roughly periodic,
with an average cycle of eleven years. Moreover, the incidence of solar flares and the flux of
solar cosmic rays, ultraviolet radiation, and x-radiation all vary directly with the sunspot
cycle. But after more than a century of investigation, the relation of these and other
phenomena, known collectively as the solar-activity cycle, to terrestrial weather and climate
remains unclear. For example, the sunspot cycle and the allied magnetic-polarity cycle have
been linked to periodicities discerned in records of such variables as rainfall, temperature,
and winds. Invariably, however, the relation is weak, and commonly of dubious statistical
significance.

Effects of solar variability over longer terms have also been sought. The absence of recorded
sunspot activity in the notes kept by European observers in the late seventeenth and early
eighteenth centuries has led some scholars to postulate a brief cessation of sunspot activity
at that time (a period called the Maunder minimum). The Maunder minimum has been linked
to a span of unusual cold in Europe extending from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth
centuries. The reality of the Maunder minimum has yet to be established, however, especially
since the records that Chinese naked-eye observers of solar activity made at that time appear
to contradict it. Scientists have also sought evidence of long-term solar periodicities by
examining indirect climatological data, such as fossil records of the thickness of ancient tree
rings. These studies, however, failed to link unequivocally terrestrial climate and the solar-
activity cycle, or even to confirm the cycle’s past existence.

If consistent and reliable geological or archaeological evidence tracing the solar-activity cycle
in the distant past could be found, it might also resolve an important issue in solar physics:
how to model solar activity. Currently, there are two models of solar activity. The first
supposes that the Sun’s internal motions (caused by rotation and convection) interact with its
large-scale magnetic field to produce a dynamo, a device in which mechanical energy is
converted into the energy of a magnetic field. In short, the Sun’s large-scale magnetic field is
taken to be self-sustaining, so that the solar-activity cycle it drives would be maintained with
little overall change for perhaps billions of years. The alternative explanation supposes that
the Sun’s large-scale magnetic field is a remnant of the field the Sun acquired when it
formed, and is not sustained against decay. In this model, the solar mechanism dependent on
the Sun’s magnetic field runs down more quickly. Thus, the characteristics of the solar-
activity cycle could be expected to change over a long period of time. Modern solar
observations span too short a time to reveal whether present cyclical solar activity is a long-
lived feature of the Sun, or merely a transient phenomenon.
77
1. The author focuses primarily on
(A) presenting two competing scientific theories concerning solar activity & evaluating
geological evidence often cited to support them
(B) giving a brief overview of some recent scientific developments in solar physics &
assessing their impact on future climatological research
(C) discussing the difficulties involved in linking terrestrial phenomena with solar activity and
indicating how resolving that issue could have an impact on our understanding of solar
physics
(D) pointing out the futility of a certain line of scientific inquiry into the terrestrial effects of
solar activity and recommending its abandonment in favor of purely physics-oriented
research
(E) outlining the specific reasons why a problem in solar physics has not yet been solved and
faulting the overly theoretical approach of modern physicists

2. Which of the following statements about the two models of solar activity is accurate?
(A) In both models cyclical solar activity is regarded as a long-lived feature of the Sun,
persisting with little change over billions of years.
(B) In both models the solar-activity cycle is hypothesized as being dependent on the large-
scale solar magnetic field.
(C) In one model the Sun’s magnetic field is thought to play a role in causing solar activity,
whereas in the other model it is not.
(D) In one model solar activity is presumed to be unrelated to terrestrial phenomena,
whereas in the other model solar activity is thought to have observable effects on the Earth.
(E) In one model cycles of solar activity with periodicities longer than a few decades are
considered to be impossible, whereas in the other model such cycles are predicted.

3. Late seventeenth and early eighteenth-century Chinese records are important for which of
the following reasons?
(A) They suggest that the data on which the Maunder minimum was predicated were
incorrect.
(B) They suggest that the Maunder minimum cannot be related to climate.
(C) They suggest that the Maunder minimum might be valid only for Europe.
(D) They establish the existence of a span of unusually cold weather worldwide at the time of
the Maunder minimum.
(E) They establish that solar activity at the time of the Maunder minimum did not significantly
vary from its present pattern.

4. The author implies which of following about currently available geological & archaeological
evidence concerning solar-activity cycle?
(A) It best supports the first model of solar activity.
(B) It best supports the second model of solar activity.
(C) It is insufficient to confirm either model of solar activity described in the third paragraph.
(D) It contradicts both models of solar activity as they are presented in the third paragraph.
(E) It disproves the theory that terrestrial weather and solar activity are linked in some way.

5. It can be inferred that the argument in favor of the first model would be strengthened if
which of the following were found to be true?
78

(A) Episodes of intense volcanic eruptions in the distant past occurred in cycles having very
long periodicities.
(B) At present time the global level of thunderstorm activity increases & decreases in cycles
with periodicities of approximately 11years
(C) In the distant past cyclical climatic changes had periodicities of longer than 200 years.
(D) In the last century the length of the sunspot cycle has been known to vary by as much as
2 years from its average periodicity of 11 years.
(E) Hundreds of millions of years ago, solar-activity cycles displayed the same periodicities as
do present-day solar-activity cycles.

6. It can be inferred from the passage that Chinese observations of the Sun during the late
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
(A) are ambiguous because most sunspots cannot be seen with the naked eye
(B) probably were made under the same weather conditions as those made in Europe
(C) are more reliable than European observations made during this period
(D) record some sunspot activity during this period
(E) have been employed by scientists seeking to argue that a change in solar activity
occurred during this period

7. It can be inferred that studies attempting to use tree-ring thickness to locate possible links
between solar periodicity and terrestrial climate are based on which of the following
assumptions?
(A) The solar-activity cycle existed in its present form during the time period in which the
tree rings grew.
(B) The biological mechanisms causing tree growth are unaffected by short-term weather
patterns.
(C) Average tree-ring thickness varies from species to species.
(D) Tree-ring thicknesses reflect changes in terrestrial climate.
(E) Both terrestrial climate and the solar-activity cycle randomly affect tree-ring thickness.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
27/CC48LFUY

79
RC 28

It is frequently assumed that the mechanization of work has a revolutionary effect on the
lives of the people who operate the new machines and on the society into which the machines
have been introduced. For example, it has been suggested that the employment of women in
industry took them out of the household, their traditional sphere, and fundamentally altered
their position in society. In the nineteenth century, when women began to enter factories,
Jules Simon, a French politician, warned that by doing so, women would give up their
femininity. Friedrich Engels, however, predicted that women would be liberated from the
“social, legal, and economic subordination” of the family by technological developments that
made possible the recruitment of “the whole female sex into public industry.” Observers thus
differed concerning the social desirability of mechanization’s effects, but they agreed that it
would transform women’s lives.

Historians, particularly those investigating the history of women, now seriously question this
assumption of transforming power. They conclude that such dramatic technological
innovations as the spinning jenny, the sewing machine, the typewriter, and the vacuum
cleaner have not resulted in equally dramatic social changes in women’s economic position or
in the prevailing evaluation of women’s work. The employment of young women in textile
mills during the Industrial Revolution was largely an extension of an older pattern of
employment of young, single women as domestics. It was not the change in office
technology, but rather the separation of secretarial work, previously seen as an
apprenticeship for beginning managers, from administrative work that in the 1880’s created a
new class of “dead-end” jobs, thenceforth considered “women’s work.” The increase in the
numbers of married women employed outside the home in the twentieth century had less to
do with the mechanization of housework and an increase in leisure time for these women
than it did with their own economic necessity and with high marriage rates that shrank the
available pool of single women workers, previously, in many cases, the only women
employers would hire.

Women’s work has changed considerably in the past 200 years, moving from the household
to the office or the factory, and later becoming mostly white-collar instead of blue-collar
work. Fundamentally, however, the conditions under which women work have changed little
since before the Industrial Revolution: the segregation of occupations by gender, lower pay
for women as a group, jobs that require relatively low levels of skill and offer women little
opportunity for advancement all persist, while women’s household labor remains demanding.
Recent historical investigation has led to a major revision of the notion that technology is
always inherently revolutionary in its effects on society. Mechanization may even have slowed
any change in the traditional position of women both in the labor market and in the home. 80
1. Which of the following statements best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
(A) The effects of the mechanization of women’s work have not borne out the frequently held
assumption that new technology is inherently revolutionary.
(B) Recent studies have shown that mechanization revolutionizes a society’s traditional values
& customary roles of its members
(C) Mechanization has caused the nature of women’s work to change since the Industrial
Revolution.
(D) The mechanization of work creates whole new classes of jobs that did not previously
exist.
(E) The mechanization of women’s work, while extremely revolutionary it its effects, has not,
on the whole, had the deleterious effects that some critics had feared.

2. The author mentions all of the following inventions as examples of dramatic technological
innovations EXCEPT the
(A) sewing machine
(B) vacuum cleaner
(C) typewriter
(D) telephone
(E) spinning jenny

3. It can be inferred that, before the Industrial Revolution, the majority of women’s work was
done in which of the following settings?
(A) Textile mills (B) Private households (C) Offices (D) Factories (E)Small shops

4. It can be inferred that the author would consider which of the following to be an indication
of a fundamental alteration in the conditions of women’s work?
(A) Statistics showing that the majority of women now occupy white-collar positions
(B) Interviews with married men indicating that they are now doing some household tasks
(C) Surveys of the labor market documenting the recent creation of a new class of jobs in
electronics in which women workers outnumber men four to one
(D) Census results showing that working women’s wages and salaries are, on the average, as
high as those of working men
(E) Enrollment figures from universities demonstrating that increasing numbers of young
women are choosing to continue their education beyond the undergraduate level

5. The passage states that, before the twentieth century, which of the following was true of
many employers?
(A) They did not employ women in factories.
(B) They tended to employ single rather than married women.
(C) They employed women in only those jobs that were related to women’s traditional
household work.
(D) They resisted technological innovations that would radically change women’s roles in the
family.
(E) They hired women only when qualified men were not available to fill the open positions.

6. It can be inferred that the author most probably believes which of the following to be true
concerning those historians who study the history of women?
81

(A) Their work provides insights important to those examining social phenomena affecting the
lives of both sexes.
(B) Their work can only be used cautiously by scholars in other disciplines.
(C) Because they concentrate only on role of women in the workplace, they draw more
reliable conclusions than do other historians.
(D) While highly interesting, their work has not had an impact on most historians’ current
assumptions concerning the revolutionary effect of technology in the workplace.
(E) They oppose further mechanization of work, which, according to their findings, tends to
perpetuate existing inequalities in society.

7. Which of the following best describes the function of the concluding sentence of passage?
(A) It sums up the general points concerning the mechanization of work made in the passage
as a whole.
(B) It draws a conclusion concerning the effects of the mechanization of work which goes
beyond the evidence presented in the passage as a whole.
(C) It restates the point concerning technology made in sentence immediately preceding it.
(D) It qualifies the author’s agreement with scholars who argue for a major revision in the
assessment of the impact of mechanization on society.
(E) It suggests a compromise between two seemingly contradictory views concerning the
effects of mechanization on society.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
28/MUUNXFTF

82
RC 29

As Gilbert White, Darwin, and others observed long ago, all species appear to have the innate
capacity to increase their numbers from generation to generation. The task for ecologists is to
untangle the environmental and biological factors that hold this intrinsic capacity for
population growth in check over the long run. The great variety of dynamic behaviors
exhibited by different populations makes this task more difficult: some populations remain
roughly constant from year to year; others exhibit regular cycles of abundance and scarcity;
still others vary wildly, with outbreaks and crashes that are in some cases plainly correlated
with the weather, and in other cases not.

To impose some order on this kaleidoscope of patterns, one school of thought proposes
dividing populations into two groups. These ecologists posit that the relatively steady
populations have “density-dependent” growth parameters; that is, rates of birth, death, and
migration which depend strongly on population density. The highly varying populations have
“density-independent” growth parameters, with vital rates buffeted by environmental events;
these rates fluctuate in a way that is wholly independent of population density.

This dichotomy has its uses, but it can cause problems if taken too literally. For one thing, no
population can be driven entirely by density-independent factors all the time. No matter how
severely or unpredictably birth, death and migration rates may be fluctuating around their
long-term averages, if there were no density-dependent effects, the population would, in the
long run, either increase or decrease without bound (barring a miracle by which gains &
losses canceled exactly). Put another way, it may be that on average 99 percent of all deaths
in a population arise from density-independent causes, and only one percent from factors
varying with density. The factors making up the one percent may seem unimportant,& their
cause may be correspondingly hard to determine. Yet, whether recognized or not, they will
usually determine the long-term average population density.

In order to understand the nature of the ecologist’s investigation, we may think of the
density-dependent effects on growth parameters as the “signal” ecologists are trying to
isolate and interpret, one that tends to make the population increase from relatively low
values or decrease from relatively high ones, while the density-independent effects act to
produce “noise” in the population dynamics. For populations that remain relatively constant,
or that oscillate around repeated cycles, the signal can be fairly easily characterized and its
effects described, even though the causative biological mechanism may remain unknown. For
irregularly fluctuating populations, we are likely to have too few observations to have any
hope of extracting the signal from the overwhelming noise. But it now seems clear that all
populations are regulated by a mixture of density-dependent and density-independent effects
in varying proportions.
83
1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with

(A) discussing two categories of factors that control population growth and assessing their
relative importance
(B) describing how growth rates in natural populations fluctuate over time and explaining why
these changes occur
(C) proposing a hypothesis concerning population sizes and suggesting ways to test it
(D) posing a fundamental question about environmental factors in population growth &
presenting some currently accepted answers
(E) refuting a commonly accepted theory about population density and offering a new
alternative

2. It can be inferred that the author considers the dichotomy discussed in the second
paragraph to be
(A) applicable only to erratically fluctuating populations
(B) useful, but only if its limitations are recognized
(C) dangerously misleading in most circumstances
(D) a complete and sufficient way to account for observed phenomena
(E) conceptually valid, but too confusing to apply on a practical basis

3. Which of the following statements can be inferred from the last paragraph?
(A) For irregularly fluctuating populations, doubling the number of observations made will
probably result in the isolation of density dependent effects.
(B) Density-dependent effects on population dynamics do not occur as frequently as do
density-independent effects.
(C) At present, ecologists do not understand any of the underlying causes of the density-
dependent effects they observe in population dynamics.
(D) Density-dependent effects on growth parameters are thought to be caused by some sort
of biochemical “signaling” that ecologists hope eventually to understand.
(E) It is sometimes possible to infer the existence of a density-dependent factor controlling
population growth without understanding its causative mechanism.

4. According to passage, which of following is a true statement about density-dependent

factors in population growth?
(A) They ultimately account for long-term population levels.
(B) They have little to do with long-term population dynamics.
(C) They are always more easily isolated and described than those that are density-
independent.
(D) They include random environmental events.
(E) They contradict current ecological assumptions about population dynamics.

5. According to the passage, all of the following behaviors have been exhibited by different
populations EXCEPT:
(A) roughly constant population levels from year to year
(B) regular cycles of increases and decreases in numbers
(C) erratic increases in numbers correlated with the weather
(D) unchecked increases in numbers over many generations
(E) sudden declines in numbers from time to time
84
6. The discussion concerning population in the 3rd paragraph serves primarily to
(A) demonstrate the difficulties ecologists face in studying density-dependent factors limiting
population growth
(B) advocate more rigorous study of density-dependent factors in population growth
(C) prove that the death rates of any population are never entirely density-independent
(D) give an example of how death rates function to limit population densities in typical
populations
(E) underline the importance of even small density-dependent factors in regulating long-term
population densities

7. In the passage, the author does all of the following EXCEPT:

(A) cite the views of other biologists
(B) define a basic problem that the passage addresses
(C) present conceptual categories used by other biologists
(D) describe the results of a particular study
(E) draw a conclusion

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
29/LP7WUEJV

85
RC 30

Some recent historians have argued that life in the British colonies in America from
approximately 1763 to 1789 was marked by internal conflicts among colonists. Inheritors of
some of the viewpoints of early twentieth-century Progressive historians such as Beard and
Becker, these recent historians have put forward arguments that deserve evaluation.

The kind of conflict most emphasized by these historians is class conflict. Yet with the
Revolutionary War dominating these years, how does one distinguish class conflict within that
larger conflict? Certainly not by the side a person supported. Although many of these
historians have accepted the earlier assumption that Loyalists represented an upper class,
new evidence indicates that Loyalists, like rebels, were drawn from all socioeconomic classes.
(It is nonetheless probably true that a larger percentage of the well-to-do joined the Loyalists
than joined the rebels.) Looking at the rebel side, we find little evidence for the contention
that lower-class rebels were in conflict with upper-class rebels. Indeed, the war effort against
Britain tended to suppress class conflicts. Where it did not, the disputing rebels of one or
another class usually became Loyalists. Loyalism thus operated as a safety valve to remove
socioeconomic discontent that existed among the rebels. Disputes occurred, of course, among
those who remained on the rebel side, but the extraordinary social mobility of eighteenth-
century American society (with the obvious exception of slaves) usually prevented such
disputes from hardening along class lines. Social structure was in fact so fluid—though recent
statistics suggest a narrowing of economic opportunity as the latter half of the century
progressed—that to talk about social classes at all requires the use of loose economic
categories such as rich, poor, and middle class, or eighteenth-century designations like “the
better sort.” Despite these vague categories, one should not claim unequivocally that hostility
between recognizable classes cannot be legitimately observed. Outside of New York,
however, there were very few instances of openly expressed class antagonism.

Having said this, however, one must add that there is much evidence to support the further
claim of recent historians that sectional conflicts were common between 1763 and 1789. The
“Paxton Boys” incident and the Regulator movement are representative examples of the
widespread, and justified, discontent of western settlers against colonial or state
governments dominated by eastern interests. Although undertones of class conflict existed
beneath such hostility, the opposition was primarily geographical. Sectional conflict—which
also existed between North and South—deserves further investigation.

In summary, historians must be careful about the kind of conflict they emphasize in
eighteenth-century America. Yet those who stress the achievement of a general consensus
among the colonists cannot fully understand that consensus without understanding the
conflicts that had to be overcome or repressed in order to reach it.
86
1. The author considers the contentions made by the recent historians discussed in the
passage to be
(A) potentially verifiable
(B) partially justified
(C) logically contradictory
(D) ingenious but flawed
(E) capricious and unsupported

2. The author most likely refers to “historians such as Beard and Becker” in order to
(A) isolate the two historians whose work is most representative of the viewpoints of
Progressive historians
(B) emphasize the need to find connections between recent historical writing and the work of
earlier historians
(C) make a case for the importance of the views of the Progressive historians concerning
eighteenth-century American life
(D) suggest that Progressive historians were the first to discover the particular internal
conflicts in eighteenth-century American life mentioned in the passage
(E) point out historians whose views of history anticipated some of views of the recent
historians mentioned in the passage

3. According to the passage, Loyalism during the American Revolutionary War served the
function of
(A) eliminating the disputes that existed among those colonists who supported the rebel
cause
(B) drawing upper, as opposed to lower, socioeconomic classes away from the rebel cause
(C) tolerating the kinds of socioeconomic discontent that were not allowed to exist on the
rebel side
(D) channeling conflict that existed within a socioeconomic class into the war effort against
the rebel cause
(E) absorbing members of socioeconomic groups on the rebel side who felt themselves in
contention with members of other socioeconomic groups

4. The passage suggests that the author would be likely to agree with which of following
statements about the social structure of eighteenth-century American society?
I. It allowed greater economic opportunity than it did social mobility.
II. It permitted greater economic opportunity prior to 1750 than after 1750.
III. It did not contain rigidly defined socioeconomic divisions.
IV. It prevented economic disputes from arising among members of the society.
(A) I and IV only
(B) II and III only
(C) III and IV only
(D) I, II, and III only
(E) I, II, III, and IV

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with
which of the following statements regarding socioeconomic class and support for the rebel
and Loyalist causes during the American Revolutionary War?
87

(A) Identifying a person’s socioeconomic class is the least accurate method of ascertaining
which side that person supported.
(B) Identifying a person as a member of the rebel or of the Loyalist side does not necessarily
reveal that person’s particular socioeconomic class.
(C) Both the rebel and the Loyalist sides contained members of all socioeconomic classes,
although there were fewer disputes among socioeconomic classes on the Loyalist side.
(D) Both the rebel and the Loyalist sides contained members of all socioeconomic classes,
although the Loyalist side was made up primarily of members of the upper classes.
(E) Both the rebel and the Loyalist sides contained members of all socioeconomic classes,
although many upper-class rebels eventually joined the Loyalists.

6. Author suggests which of following about the representativeness of colonial or state

governments in America from 1763 to 1789?
(A) The governments inadequately represented the interests of people in western regions.
(B) The governments more often represented class interests than sectional interests.
(C) The governments were less representative than they had been before 1763.
(D) The governments were dominated by the interests of people of an upper socioeconomic
class.
(E) The governments of the northern colonies were less representative than were the
governments of the southern colonies.

7. According to the passage, which of the following is a true statement about sectional
conflicts in America between 1763 and 1789?
(A) These conflicts were instigated by eastern interests against western settlers.
(B) These conflicts were the most serious kind of conflict in America.
(C) The conflicts eventually led to openly expressed class antagonism.
(D) These conflicts contained an element of class hostility.
(E) These conflicts were motivated by class conflicts.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
30/2RW6CE8P

88
RC 31

The recent, apparently successful, prediction by mathematical models of an appearance of El

Nino—the warm ocean current that periodically develops along the Pacific coast of South
America—has excited researchers. Jacob Bjerknes pointed out over 20 years ago how winds
might create either abnormally warm or abnormally cold water in the eastern equatorial
Pacific. Nonetheless, until the development of the models no one could explain why conditions
should regularly shift from one to the other, as happens in the periodic oscillations between
appearances of the warm El Nino and the cold so-called anti-El Nino. The answer, at least if
the current model that links the behavior of the ocean to that of the atmosphere is correct, is
to be found in the ocean.

It has long been known that during an El Nino, two conditions exist: (1) unusually warm
water extends along the eastern Pacific, principally along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru, and
(2) winds blow from the west into the warmer air rising over the warm water in the east.
These winds tend to create a feedback mechanism by driving the warmer surface water into a
“pile” that blocks the normal upwelling of deeper, cold water in the east and further warms
the eastern water, thus strengthening the wind still more. The contribution of the model is to
show that the winds of an El Nino, which raise sea level in the east, simultaneously send a
signal to the west lowering sea level. According to the model, that signal is generated as a
negative Rossby wave, a wave of depressed, or negative, sea level, that moves westward
parallel to the equator at 25 to 85 kilometers per day. Taking months to traverse the Pacific,
Rossby waves march to the western boundary of the Pacific basin, which is modeled as a
smooth wall but in reality consists of quite irregular island chains, such as the Philippines and
Indonesia.

When the waves meet the western boundary, they are reflected, and the model predicts that
Rossby waves will be broken into numerous coastal Kelvin waves carrying the same negative
sea-level signal. These eventually shoot toward the equator, and then head eastward along
the equator propelled by the rotation of the Earth at a speed of about 250 kilometers per day.
When enough Kelvin waves of sufficient amplitude arrive from the western Pacific, their
negative sea-level signal overcomes the feedback mechanism tending to raise the sea level,
and they begin to drive the system into the opposite cold mode. This produces a gradual shift
in winds, one that will eventually send positive sea-level Rossby waves westward, waves that
will eventually return as cold cycle-ending positive Kelvin waves, beginning another warming
cycle.

89
1. The primary function of the passage as a whole is to
(A) introduce a new explanation of a physical phenomenon
(B) explain the difference between two related physical phenomena
(C) illustrate the limitations of applying mathematics to complicated physical phenomena
(D) indicate the direction that research into a particular physical phenomenon should take
(E) clarify the differences between an old explanation of a physical phenomenon and a new
model of it

2. Which of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph?
(A) A theory is presented and criticized.
(B) A model is described and evaluated.
(C) A result is reported and its importance explained.
(D) A phenomenon is noted and its significance debated.
(E) A hypothesis is introduced and contrary evidence presented.

3. According to the passage, which of the following features is characteristic of an El Nino?

(A) Cold coastal water near Peru
(B) Winds blowing from the west
(C) Random occurrence
(D) Worldwide effects
(E) Short duration

4. According to model presented in passage, which of the following normally signals the
disappearance of an El Nino?
(A) The arrival in the eastern Pacific of negative sea-level Kelvin waves.
(B) A shift in the direction of the winds produced by the start of an anti-El Nino elsewhere in
the Pacific.
(C) The reflection of Kelvin waves after they reach the eastern boundary of the Pacific, along
Ecuador and Peru.
(D) An increase in the speed at which negative Rossby waves cross the Pacific.
(E) The creation of a reservoir of colder, deep ocean water trapped under the pile of warmer,
surface ocean water.

5. It can be inferred that which of the following would result fairly immediately from the
cessation of the winds of an El Nino?
I. Negative Rossby waves would cease to be generated in the eastern Pacific.
II. The sea level in the eastern Pacific would fall.
III. The surface water in the eastern Pacific would again be cooled by being mixed with deep
water.
(A) I only (B) II only (C) I and II only (D) I and III only (E) I, II, and III

6. Which of following, if true, would most seriously undermine the validity of the model of El
Nino that is presented in the passage?
(A) During some years El Nino extends significantly farther along the coasts of Ecuador and
Peru than during other years.
(B) During periods of unusually cool temperatures along the eastern Pacific, an El Nino is
much colder than normal.
90

(C) The normal upwelling of cold water in the eastern Pacific depends much more on the local
characteristics of the ocean than on atmospheric conditions.
(D) The variations in time it takes Rossby waves to cross the Pacific depend on the power of
winds that the waves encounter.
(E) The western boundary of Pacific basin is so irregular that it impedes most coastal Kelvin
waves from heading eastward.

7. The passage best supports the conclusion that during an anti-El Nino the fastest-moving
signal waves are
(A) negative Rossby waves moving east along the equator
(B) positive Rossby waves moving west along the equator
(C) negative Kelvin waves moving west along the equator
(D) positive Kelvin waves moving west along the equator
(E) positive Kelvin waves moving east along the equator

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
31/LYZVSVUI

91
RC 32

Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in demand for luxury goods and
services that took place in eighteenth-century England. McKendrick has explored the
Wedgwood firm’s remarkable success in marketing luxury pottery; Plumb has written about
the proliferation of provincial theaters, musical festivals, and children’s toys and books. While
the fact of this consumer revolution is hardly in doubt, three key questions remain: Who were
the consumers? What were their motives? And what were the effects of the new demand for
luxuries?

An answer to the first of these has been difficult to obtain. Although it has been possible to
infer from the goods and services actually produced what manufactures and servicing trades
thought their customers wanted, only a study of relevant personal documents written by
actual consumers will provide a precise picture of who wanted what. We still need to know
how large this consumer market was and how far down the social scale the consumer
demand for luxury goods penetrated. With regard to this last question, we might note in
passing that Thompson, while rightly restoring laboring people to the stage of eighteenth-
century English history, has probably exaggerated the opposition of these people to the
inroads of capitalist consumerism in general; for example, laboring people in eighteenth-
century England readily shifted from home-brewed beer to standardized beer produced by
huge, heavily capitalized urban breweries.

To answer the question of why consumers became so eager to buy, some historians have
pointed to the ability of manufacturers to advertise in a relatively uncensored press. This,
however, hardly seems a sufficient answer. McKendrick favors a Veblen model of conspicuous
consumption stimulated by competition for status. The “middling sort” bought goods and
services because they wanted to follow fashions set by the rich. Again, we may wonder
whether this explanation is sufficient. Do not people enjoy buying things as a form of self-
gratification? If so, consumerism could be seen as a product of the rise of new concepts of
individualism and materialism, but not necessarily of the frenzy for conspicuous competition.

Finally, what were the consequences of this consumer demand for luxuries? McKendrick
claims that it goes a long way toward explaining the coming of the Industrial Revolution. But
does it? What, for example, does the production of high-quality pottery and toys have to do
with the development of iron manufacture or textile mills? It is perfectly possible to have the
psychology and reality of a consumer society without a heavy industrial sector.

That future exploration of these key questions is undoubtedly necessary should not, however,
diminish the force of the conclusion of recent studies: the insatiable demand in eighteenth-
century England for frivolous as well as useful goods and services foreshadows our own
world.
92
1. In first paragraph, the author mentions McKendrick and Plumb most probably in order to
(A) contrast their views on the subject of luxury consumerism in eighteenth-century England
(B) indicate the inadequacy of historiographical approaches to eighteenth-century English
history
(C) give examples of historians who have helped to establish the fact of growing
consumerism in eighteenth-century England
(D) support the contention that key questions about eighteenth-century consumerism remain
to be answered
(E) compare one historian’s interest in luxury goods such as pottery to another historian’s
interest in luxury services such as musical festivals

2. Which of the following items, if preserved from eighteenth-century England, would provide
an example of the kind of documents mentioned in the passage?
(A) A written agreement between a supplier of raw materials and a supplier of luxury goods
(B) A diary that mentions luxury goods and services purchased by its author
(C) A theater ticket stamped with the date and name of a particular play
(D) A payroll record from a company that produced luxury goods such as pottery
(E) A newspaper advertisement describing luxury goods &services available at a seaside
resort

3. Thompson attributes to laboring people in 18th century England which of following attitudes
toward capitalist consumerism?
(A) Enthusiasm (B) Curiosity (C) Ambivalence (D) Stubbornness (E) Hostility

4. In the third paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with

(A) contrasting two theses and offering a compromise
(B) questioning two explanations and proposing a possible alternative to them
(C) paraphrasing the work of two historians and questioning their assumptions
(D) examining two theories and endorsing one over the other
(E) raising several questions but implying that they cannot be answered

5. According to the passage, a Veblen model of conspicuous consumption has been used to
(A) investigate the extent of the demand for luxury goods among social classes in eighteenth-
century England
(B) classify the kinds of luxury goods desired by eighteenth-century consumers
(C) explain the motivation of eighteenth-century consumers to buy luxury goods
(D) establish the extent to which the tastes of rich consumers were shaped by the middle
classes in eighteenth-century England
(E) compare luxury consumerism in eighteenth-century England with such consumerism in
the twentieth century

6. According to the passage, eighteenth-century England and the contemporary world of the
passage’s readers are
(A) dissimilar in the extent to which luxury consumerism could be said to be widespread
among the social classes
(B) dissimilar in their definitions of luxury goods and services
(C) dissimilar in the extent to which luxury goods could be said to be a stimulant of industrial
93

development
(D) similar in their strong demand for a variety of goods and services
(E) similar in the extent to which a middle class could be identified as imitating the habits of a
wealthier class

7. It can be inferred that author would most probably agree with which of following
statements about the relationship between the Industrial Revolution and the demand for
luxury goods and services in eighteenth-century England?
(A) The growing demand for luxury goods and services was a major factor in the coming of
the Industrial Revolution.
(B) The Industrial Revolution exploited the already existing demand for luxury goods and
services.
(C) Although the demand for luxury goods may have helped bring about the Industrial
Revolution, the demand for luxury services did not.
(D) There is no reason to believe that Industrial Revolution was directly driven by a growing
demand for luxury goods & servic
(E) The increasing demand for luxury goods and services was a cultural phenomenon that has
been conclusively demonstrated to have been separate from the coming of the Industrial
Revolution.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
32/695RHK0O

94
RC 33

Aided by the recent ability to analyze samples of air trapped in glaciers, scientists now have a
clearer idea of the relationship between atmospheric composition and global temperature
change over the past 160,000 years. In particular, determination of atmospheric composition
during periods of glacial expansion and retreat (cooling and warming) is possible using data
from the 2,000 meter Vostok ice core drilled in Antarctica. The technique involved is similar
to that used in analyzing cores of marine sediments, where the ratio of the two common
isotopes of oxygen, 18O and 16O, accurately reflects past temperature changes. Isotopic
analysis of oxygen in the Vostok core suggests mean global temperature fluctuations of up to
10 degrees centigrade over the past 160,000 years.

Data from the Vostok core also indicate that the amount of carbon dioxide has fluctuated with
temperature over the same period: the higher the temperature, the higher the concentration
of carbon dioxide and the lower the temperature, the lower the concentration. Although
change in carbon dioxide content closely follows change in temperature during periods of
deglaciation, it apparently lags behind temperature during periods of cooling. The correlation
of carbon dioxide with temperature, of course, does not establish whether changes in
atmospheric composition caused the warming and cooling trends or were caused by their.

The correlation between carbon dioxide and temperature throughout the Vostok record is
consistent and predictable. The absolute temperature changes, however, are from 5 to 14
times greater than would be expected on the basis of carbon dioxide’s own ability to absorb
infrared radiation, or radiant heat. This reaction suggests that, quite aside from changes in
heat-trapping gases, commonly known as greenhouse gases, certain positive feedbacks are
also amplifying the temperature change. Such feedbacks might involve ice on land and sea,
clouds, or water vapor, which also absorb radiant heat.

Other data from the Vostok core show that methane gas also correlates closely with
temperature and carbon dioxide. The methane concentration nearly doubled, for example,
between the peak of the penultimate glacial period and the following interglacial period.
Within the present interglacial period it has more than doubled in just the past 300 years and
is rising rapidly. Although the concentration of atmospheric methane is more than two orders
of magnitude lower than that of carbon dioxide, it cannot be ignored: the radiative properties
of methane make it 20 times more effective, molecule for molecule, than carbon dioxide in
absorbing radiant heat. On the basis of a simulation model that climatological researchers
have developed, methane appears to have been about 25 percent as important as carbon
dioxide in the warming that took place during the most recent glacial retreat 8,000 to 10,000
years ago. 95
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) interpret data
(B) explain research methodology
(C) evaluate a conclusion
(D) suggest a new technique
(E) attack a theory

2. According to the passage, which of the following statements about methane is true?
(A) Methane is found in marine sediments.
(B) Methane is more effective than carbon dioxide in absorbing radiant heat.
(C) The Earth’s atmosphere now contains more than twice as much methane as it does
carbon dioxide.
(D) The higher the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, the lower the
concentration of methane
(E) Most of the global warming that has occurred during the past 10 years has been
associated with increased methane concentration.

3. Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between carbon dioxide
and global temperature?
(A) Carbon dioxide levels change immediately in response to changes in temperature.
(B) Carbon dioxide levels correlate with global temperature during cooling periods only.
(C) Once carbon dioxide levels increase, they remain high regardless of changes in global
temperature.
(D) Carbon dioxide levels increase more quickly than global temperature does.
(E) During cooling periods, carbon dioxide levels initially remain high and then decline.

4. The author mentions “certain positive feedbacks” in order to indicate that

(A) increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere is responsible for
global temperature increase
(B) some climate simulation models have produced useful information
(C) greenhouse gases alone do not account for global temperature increase
(D) variables that benefit life are causing global temperature to increase
(E) beneficial substances that are not heat-trapping gases and that contribute to global
temperature increase have been found in the Vostok ice core

5. It can be inferred that a long-term decrease in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the
Earth’s atmosphere would
(A) increase methane concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere
(B) accompany a period of glaciation
(C) encourage the formation of more oxygen isotopes in the Earth’s atmosphere
(D) promote the formation of more water in the Earth’s global environment
(E) increase the amount of infrared radiation absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere

6. The passage suggests that when the methane concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere
decreases, which of the following also happens?
(A) Glaciers melt faster.
(B) The concentration of carbon dioxide increases.
96

(C) The mean global temperature decreases.

(D) Carbon dioxide absorbs more radiant beat.
(E) More clouds form in the Earth’s atmosphere.
7. In the fourth paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with
(A) restating the main idea of the passage
(B) using research findings to develop a simulation model
(C) outlining the direction of future reserves
(D) providing an additional example of a phenomenon
(E) introducing a conflicting hypothesis

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
33/Z5S0HILW

97
RC 34

Present-day philosophers usually envision their discipline as an endeavor that has been, since
antiquity, distinct from and superior to any particular intellectual discipline, such as theology
or science. Such philosophical concerns as the mind-body problem or, more generally, the
nature of human knowledge, they believe, are basic human questions whose tentative
philosophical solutions have served as the necessary foundations on which all other
intellectual speculation has rested.

The basis for this view, however, lies in a serious misinterpretation of the past, a projection of
modern concerns onto past events. The idea of an autonomous discipline called “philosophy,”
distinct from and sitting in judgment on such pursuits as theology and science turns out, on
close examination, to be of quite recent origin. When, in seventeenth century, Descartes and
Hobbes rejected medieval philosophy, they did not think of themselves, as modern
philosophers do, as proposing a new and better philosophy, but rather as furthering “the
warfare between science and theology.” They were fighting, albeit discreetly, to open the
intellectual world to the new science and to liberate intellectual life from ecclesiastical
philosophy and envisioned their work as contributing to the growth, not of philosophy, but of
research in mathematics and physics. This link between philosophical interests and scientific
practice persisted until the nineteenth century, when decline in ecclesiastical power over
scholarship and changes in the nature of science provoked the final separation of philosophy
from both.

The demarcation of philosophy from science was facilitated by the development in the early
nineteenth century of a new notion, that philosophy’s core interest should be epistemology,
the general explanation of what it means to know something. Modern philosophers now trace
that notion back at least to Descartes and Spinoza, but it was not explicitly articulated until
the late eighteenth century, by Kant, and did not become built into the structure of academic
institutions and the standard self-descriptions of philosophy professors until the late
nineteenth century. Without the idea of epistemology, the survival of philosophy in an age of
modern science is hard to imagine. Metaphysics, philosophy’s traditional core—considered as
the most general description of how the heavens and the earth are put together—had been
rendered almost completely meaningless by the spectacular progress of physics. Kant,
however, by focusing philosophy on the problem of knowledge, managed to replace
metaphysics with epistemology, and thus to transform the notion of philosophy as “queen of
sciences” into the new notion of philosophy as a separate, foundational discipline. Philosophy
became “primary” no longer in the sense of “highest” but in the sense of “underlying”. After
Kant, philosophers were able to reinterpret seventeenth-and eighteenth-century thinkers as
attempting to discover “How is our knowledge possible?” and to project this question back
even on the ancients.
98
1. Which of the following best expresses the author’s main point?
(A) Philosophy’s overriding interest in basic human questions is a legacy primarily of the work
of Kant.
(B) Philosophy was deeply involved in the seventeenth-century warfare between science and
religion.
(C) The set of problems of primary importance to philosophers has remained relatively
constant since antiquity.
(D) The status of philosophy as an independent intellectual pursuit is a relatively recent
development.
(E) The role of philosophy in guiding intellectual speculation has gradually been usurped by
science.

2. According to the passage, present-day philosophers believe that the mind-body problem is
an issue that
(A) has implications primarily for philosophers
(B) may be affected by recent advances in science
(C) has shaped recent work in epistemology
(D) has little relevance to present-day philosophy
(E) has served as a basis for intellectual speculation since antiquity

3. According to the author, philosophy became distinct from science and theology during the
(A) ancient period
(B) medieval period
(C) seventeenth century
(D) nineteenth century
(E) twentieth century

4. The author suggests that Descartes’ support for new science of the seventeenth century
can be characterized as
(A) pragmatic and hypocritical
(B) cautious and inconsistent
(C) daring and opportunistic
(D) intense but fleeting
(E) strong but prudent

5. The author implies which of following in discussing the development of philosophy during
the nineteenth century?
(A) Nineteenth-century philosophy took science as its model for understanding the bases of
knowledge.
(B) The role of academic institutions in shaping metaphysical philosophy grew enormously
during the 19th century.
(C) Nineteenth-century philosophers carried out a program of investigation explicitly laid out
by Descartes and Spinoza.
(D) Kant had an overwhelming impact on the direction of nineteenth-century philosophy.
(E) Nineteenth-century philosophy made major advances in understanding the nature of
knowledge.
99
6. With which of the following statements concerning the writing of history would the author
be most likely to agree?
(A) History should not emphasize the role played by ideas over the role played by individuals.
(B) History should not be distorted by attributing present-day consciousness to historical
figures.
(C) History should not be focused primarily on those past events most relevant to the
present.
(D) History should be concerned with describing those aspects of the past that differ most
from those of the present.
(E) History should be examined for the lessons it can provide in understanding current
problems.

7. The primary function of the passage as a whole is to

(A) compare two competing models
(B) analyze a difficult theory
(C) present new evidence for a theory
(D) correct an erroneous belief by describing its origins
(E) resolve a long-standing theoretical controversy

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
34/O94IUUAD

100
RC 35

The more that is discovered about the intricate organization of the nervous system, the more
it seems remarkable that genes can successfully specify the development of that system.
Human genes contain too little information even to specify which hemisphere of the brain
each of a human’s 1011 neurons should occupy, let alone the hundreds of connections that
each neuron makes. For such reasons, we can assume that there must be an important
random factor in neural development, and in particular, that errors must and do occur in the
development of all normal brains.

The most vivid expression of such errors occurs in genetically identical (isogenic) organisms.
Even when reared under the same conditions, isogenic organisms are rarely exact copies of
one another, and their differences have revealed much about the random variations that
result from an organism’s limited supply of genetic information. In isogenic Daphniae, for
example, even though the position, size, and branching pattern of each optic neuron are
remarkably constant, there is some variability in connectivity, and the number of synapses
varies greatly. This variability is probably the result of random scatter beyond the resolution
of genetic control and is best termed “imprecision,” since its converse, the degree of
clustering about a mean, is conventionally, called “precision.”

Imprecision should be distinguished from developmental mistakes: wrongly migrated

neurons, incorrect connections, and the like. To use a computer analogy, minor rounding-off
errors occur universally and are analogous to imprecision, but occasionally a binary digit is
incorrectly transmitted, perhaps ruining a calculation, and this incorrect transmission is
analogous to a developmental mistake. Thus, imprecision is a form of inaccuracy inherent
within the limits of design, but mistakes are forms of gross fallibility.

Both imprecision and gross fallibility can plausibly be blamed on the insufficiency of genetic
information, since either could be reduced by adding more information. It is universally
accepted among information theorists that codes and languages can be made mistake-
resistant by incorporating redundancy. However, since the amount of space available in any
information

system is limited, increased redundancy results in decreased precision. For example, π when
written incorrectly in English, “three point oen four two, “can be understood correctly even
though a typographical error has occurred. More precision could be gained, however, if those
24 spaces were filled with Arabic numerals; then π could be expressed to 23 significant digits,
although any error would significantly change the meaning. There exists a trade-off, the more
precisely a system is specified, using a given limited amount of information, the greater the
danger of gross mistakes. The overall scheme by which genetic information is rationed out in
organisms, therefore, must involve a compromise between two conflicting priorities: precision
and the avoidance of gross mistakes.
101
1. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
(A) Although studies of isogenic organisms have shown that all organisms are subject to
developmental variations, there is still scientific debate over the exact causes of these
variations.
(B) Because of limitations on the amount of information contained in the genes of organisms,
developing nervous systems are subject to two basic kinds of error, the likelihood of one of
which is reduced only when the likelihood of the other is increased.
(C) The complexity of an organism’s genetic information means that much of unusual
variation that occurs among organisms can best be explained as the result of developmental
mistakes.
(D) New findings about the nature of the genetic control of neural development support the
work of some scientists who argue that the computer is an extremely useful model for
understanding the nervous system.
(E) The major discovery made by scientists studying the genetic control of neural
development is that both imprecision and gross developmental error can be traced to specific
types of mutations in specific genes.

2. One of the reasons it has been assumed that there is an important random element in
human neural development is that
(A) genes cannot specify certain types of developmental processes as well as they can others
(B) the intricacy of the nervous system allows small developmental errors to occur without
harmful effects
(C) the amount of information contained in the genes is less than the amount necessary to
specify the location of the neurons
(D) the number of neurons in the human brain varies greatly from individual to individual
(E) it is theoretically impossible for an organism to protect itself completely from gross
developmental mistakes

3. The author suggests which of the following about the findings of information theorists?
(A) Their findings provocatively challenge the standard explanation of redundancy in genes.
(B) Their findings provide useful insights into understanding the rationing of genetic
information.
(C) Their findings help to explain why imprecision can occur in neural development but not
why gross mistakes can occur.
(D) Their findings suggest that genes may be able to specify neural development more
accurately than had previously been thought.
(E) Their findings support the work of those who use computer operations as models for
understanding genetic control.

4. According to passage, of the following aspects of the optic neurons of isogenic Daphniae,
which varies the most?
(A) Size (B) Connectivity (C) Position (D) Branching pattern (E)Numberof synapses

5. Which of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph?
(A) A specific case is presented, its details are analyzed, and a conclusion is drawn from it.
(B) A discovery is announced, its most significant application is discussed, and possibilities for
the future are suggested.
102

(C) A generalization is made, specific situations in which it is applicable are noted, and
problems with it are suggested.
(D) An observation is made, specifics are provided to support it, and a generalization is
derived.
(E) A hypothesis is presented, its implications are clarified, and applications of it are
discussed.

6. Author uses all of following to clarify the distinction between imprecision & gross mistake in
neural development EXCEPT
(A) classification of borderline phenomena
(B) a description of the relationship between the phenomena denoted by each term
(C) specific examples of the phenomena denoted by each term
(D) an explanation of at least one of the key terms involved
(E) analogies to other types of phenomena

7. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the genetic information of
Daphniae?
I. There is probably some degree of redundancy in the information controlling neural
development.
II. Most of the information for neural development stored in the genes is used to specify the
positions of the optic neurons.
III. There is sufficient information to preclude the occurrence of gross mistakes during neural
development.
(A) I only (B) II only (C) III only (D) I and II only (E) II and III only

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
35/UNZTYET2

103
RC 36

Is the literary critic like the poet, responding creatively, intuitively, subjectively to the written
word as the poet responds to human experience? Or is the critic more like a scientist,
following a series of demonstrable, verifiable steps, using an objective method of analysis?

For the woman who is a practitioner of feminist literary criticism, the subjectivity versus
objectivity, or critic-as-artist-or-scientist, debate has special significance; for her, the
question is not only academic, but political as well, and her definition will court special risks
whichever side of the issue it favors. If she defines feminist criticism as objective and
scientific—a valid, verifiable, intellectual method that anyone, whether man or woman, can
perform—the definition not only precludes the critic-as-artist approach, but may also impede
accomplishment of the utilitarian political objectives of those who seek to change the
academic establishment and its thinking, especially about sex roles. If she defines feminist
criticism as creative and intuitive, privileged as art, then her work becomes vulnerable to the
prejudices of stereotypic ideas about the ways in which women think, and will be dismissed
by much of the academic establishment. Because of these prejudices, women who use an
intuitive approach in their criticism may find themselves charged with inability to be
analytical, to be objective, or to think critically. Whereas men may be free to claim the role of
critic-as-artist, women run different professional risks when they choose intuition and private
experience as critical method and defense.

These questions are political in the sense that the debate over them will inevitably be less an
exploration of abstract matters in a spirit of disinterested inquiry than an academic power
struggle in which the careers and professional fortunes of many women scholars—only now
entering the academic profession in substantial numbers—will be at stake, and with them the
chances for a distinctive contribution to humanistic understanding, a contribution that might
be an important influence against sexism in our society.

As long as the academic establishment continues to regard objective analysis as “masculine”

and an intuitive approach as “feminine,” the theoretician must steer a delicate philosophical
course between the two. If she wishes to construct a theory of feminist criticism, she would
be well advised to place it within the framework of a general theory of the critical process
that is neither purely objective nor purely intuitive. Her theory is then more likely to be
compared and contrasted with other theories of criticism with some degree of dispassionate
distance.

104
1. Which of the following titles best summarizes the content of the passage?
(A) How Theories of Literary Criticism Can Best Be Used
(B) Problems Confronting Women Who Are Feminist Literary Critics
(C) A Historical overview of Feminist literary Criticism
(D) A New Theory of Literary Criticism
(E) Literary Criticism: Art or Science?

2. It can be inferred that the author believes which of the following about women who are
literary critics?
I. They can make a unique contribution to society.
II. They must develop a new theory of the critical process.
III. Their criticisms of literature should be entirely objective.
(A) I only (B) II only (C) I and III only (D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III

3. Author specifically mentions all of the following as difficulties that particularly affect women
who are theoreticians of feminist literary criticism EXCEPT the
(A) tendency of a predominantly male academic establishment to form preconceptions about
women
(B) limitations that are imposed when criticism is defined as objective and scientific
(C) likelihood that the work of a woman theoretician who claims the privilege of art will be
viewed with prejudice by some academics
(D) inescapability of power struggles between women in the academic profession and the
academic establishment
(E) tendency of members of the academic establishment to treat all forms of feminist literary
theory with hostility

4. According to the author, the debate mentioned in the passage has special significance for
the woman who is a theoretician of feminist literary criticism for which of the following
reasons?
(A) There are large numbers of capable women working within the academic establishment.
(B) There are a few powerful feminist critics who have been recognized by the academic
establishment.
(C) Like other critics, most women who are literary critics define criticism as either scientific
or artistic.
(D) Women who are literary critics face professional risks different from those faced by men
who are literary critics.
(E) Women who are literary critics are more likely to participate in the debate than are men
who are literary critics.

5. Which of the following is presented by the author in support of the suggestion that there is
stereotypic thinking among members of the academic establishment?
(A) A distinctively feminist contribution to humanistic understanding could work against the
influence of sexism among members of academic establishment.
(B) Women who define criticism as artistic may be seen by the academic establishment as
being incapable of critical thinking.
(C) The debate over the role of the literary critic is often seen as a political one.
(D) Women scholars are only now entering academia in substantial numbers.
105

(E) The woman who is a critic is forced to construct a theory of literary criticism.
6. Which of following is most likely to be one of the “utilitarian political objectives” mentioned
in the passage?
(A) To forge a new theory of literary criticism
(B) To pursue truth in a disinterested manner
(C) To demonstrate that women are interested in literary criticism that can be viewed either
subjectively or objectively
(D) To convince the academic establishment to revise the ways in which it assesses women
scholars’ professional qualities
(E) To dissuade women who are literary critics from taking a subjective approach to literary
criticism

7. It can be inferred that the author would define as “political” questions mentioned in 3 rd
para that
(A) are contested largely through contentions over power
(B) are primarily academic in nature and open to abstract analysis
(C) are not in themselves important
(D) cannot be resolved without extensive debate
(E) will be debated by both men and women

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
36/OVKA4P96

106
RC 37

What causes a helix in nature to appear with either a dextral (“right-handed,” or clockwise)
twist or a sinistral (“left-handed,” or counterclockwise) twist is one of the most intriguing
puzzles in the science of form. Most spiral-shaped snail species are predominantly dextral.
But at one time, handedness (twist direction of the shell) was equally distributed within some
snail species that have become predominantly dextral or, in a few species, predominantly
sinistral. What mechanisms, control handedness and keep left-handedness rare?

It would seem unlikely that evolution should discriminate against sinistral snails if sinistral
and dextral snails are exact mirror images, for any disadvantage that a sinistral twist in itself
could confer on its possessor is almost inconceivable. But left- and right-handed snails are
not actually true mirror images of one another. Their shapes are noticeably different. Sinistral
rarity might, then, be a consequence of possible disadvantages conferred by these other
concomitant structural features. In addition, perhaps left- and right-handed snails cannot
mate with each other, having incompatible twist directions. Presumably an individual of the
rarer form would have relative difficulty in finding a mate of the same hand, thus keeping the
rare form rare or creating geographically separated right-and left-handed populations.

But this evolutionary mechanism combining dissymmetry, anatomy, and chance does not
provide an adequate explanation of why right-handedness should have become predominant.
It does not explain, for example, why the infrequent unions between snails of opposing hands
produce fewer offspring of the rarer than the commoner form in species where each parent
contributes equally to handedness. Nor does it explain why, in a species where one parent
determines handedness, a brood is not exclusively right- or left-handed when the offspring
would have the same genetic predisposition. In the European pond snail Lymnaea peregra, a

predominantly dextral species whose handedness is maternally determined, a brood might be

expected to be exclusively right or left-handed—and this often occurs. However, some broods
possess a few snails of the opposing hand, and in predominantly sinistral broods, the
incidence of dextrality is surprisingly high.

Here, the evolutionary theory must defer to a theory based on an explicit developmental
mechanism that can favor either right or left-handedness. In the case of Lymnaea peregra,
studies indicate that a dextral gene is expressed during egg formation; i.e., before egg
fertilization, the gene produces a protein, found in the cytoplasm of the egg, that controls the
pattern of cell division and thus handedness. In experiments, an injection of cytoplasm from
dextral eggs changes the pattern of sinistral eggs, but an injection from sinistral eggs does
not influence dextral eggs. One explanation for the differing effects is that all Lymnaea
peregra eggs begin left-handed but most switch to being right-handed. Thus, the path to a
solution to the puzzle of handedness in all snails appears to be as twisted as the helix itself.
107
1. Which of the following would serve as an example of “concomitant structural features” that
might disadvantage a snail of the rarer form?
(A) A shell and body that are an exact mirror image of a snail of the commoner form
(B) A smaller population of the snails of the rarer form
(C) A chip or fracture in the shell caused by an object falling on it
(D) A pattern on the shell that better camouflages it
(E) A smaller shell opening that restricts mobility and ingestion relative to that of a snail of
the commoner form

2. The second paragraph of the passage is primarily concerned with offering possible reasons
why
(A) it is unlikely that evolutionary mechanisms could discriminate against sinistral snails
(B) sinistrality is relatively uncommon among snail species
(C) dextral and sinistral populations of a snail species tend to intermingle
(D) a theory based on a developmental mechanism inadequately accounts for predominance
of dextrality across snail species
(E) dextral snails breed more readily than sinistral snails, even within predominantly sinistral
populations

3. In describing the “evolutionary mechanism”, the author mentions which of the following?
(A) The favorable conditions for nurturing new offspring
(B) The variable environmental conditions that affect survival of adult snails
(C) The availability of potential mates for breeding
(D) The structural identity of offspring to parents of the same hand
(E) The frequency of unions between snails of different species

4. According to the passage, which of the following is true of Lymnaea peregra?

(A) Handedness within the species was at one time equally distributed between left and right.
(B) Under laboratory conditions, dextral eggs from Lymnaea peregra can be artificially
induced to develop into sinistral snails.
(C) Broods of Lymnaea peregra are, without variation, exclusively sinistral or dextral.
(D) Handedness in Lymnaea peregra offspring is determined by only one of the parents.
(E) Geographic factors have played a larger role than has genetics in the evolution of the
species.

5. The passage implies that in Lymnaea peregra, there will generally be

(A) more offspring of the nondominant hand in broods where handedness is determined after,
rather than before, fertilization
(B) a sinistral gene that produces a protein in the cytoplasm of the egg cell
(C) fewer sinistral offspring in dextral broods than dextral offspring in sinistral broods
(D) equal numbers of exclusively left-and right-handed broods
(E) an increasing occurrence of left-handedness in successive broods
108
6. It can be inferred that a predominantly sinistral snail species might stay predominantly
sinistral for each of following reasons EXCEPT
(A) a developmental mechanism that affects the cell-division pattern of snails
(B) structural features that advantage dextral snails of the species
(C) a relatively small number of snails of the same hand for dextral snails of the species to
mate with
(D) anatomical incompatibility that prevents mating between snails of opposing hands within
the species
(E) geographic separation of sinistral and dextral populations

7. Which of the following accurately describes the relationship between the evolutionary and
developmental theories discussed ?
(A) Although the two theories reach the same conclusion, each is based on different
assumptions.
(B) They present contradictory explanations of the same phenomenon.
(C) The second theory accounts for certain phenomena that the first cannot explain.
(D) The second theory demonstrates why the first is valid only for very unusual, special
cases.
(E) They are identical and interchangeable in that the second theory merely restates the first
in less technical terms.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
37/HBIRYDT7

109
RC 38

A “scientistic” view of language was dominant among philosophers and linguists who affected
to develop a scientific analysis of human thought and behavior in the early part of this
century. Under the force of this view, it was perhaps inevitable that the art of rhetoric should
pass from the status of being regarded as of questionable worth (because although it might
be both a source of pleasure and a means to urge people to right action, it might also be a
means to distort truth and a source of misguided action) to the status of being wholly
condemned. If people are regarded only as machines guided by logic, as they were by these
“scientistic” thinkers, rhetoric is likely to be held in low regard; for the most obvious truth
about rhetoric is that it speaks to the whole person. It presents its arguments first to the
person as a rational being, because persuasive discourse, if honestly conceived, always has a
basis in reasoning. Logical argument is the plot, as it were, of any speech or essay that is
respectfully intended to persuade people. Yet it is a characterizing feature of rhetoric that it
goes beyond this and appeals to the parts of our nature that are involved in feeling, desiring,
acting, and suffering. It recalls relevant instances of the emotional reactions of people to
circumstances—real or fictional—that are similar to our own circumstances. Such is the
purpose of both historical accounts and fables in persuasive discourse: they indicate literally
or symbolically how people may react emotionally, with hope or fear, to particular
circumstances. A speech attempting to persuade people can achieve little unless it takes into
account the aspect of their being related to such hopes and fears.

Rhetoric, then, is addressed to human beings living at particular times and in particular
places. From the point of view of rhetoric, we are not merely logical thinking machines,
creatures abstracted from time and space. The study of rhetoric should therefore be
considered the most humanistic of the humanities, since rhetoric is not directed only to our
rational selves. It takes into account what the “scientistic” view leaves out. If it is a weakness
to harbor feelings, then rhetoric may be thought of as dealing in weakness. But those who
reject the idea of rhetoric because they believe it deals in lies and who at the same time hope
to move people to action, must either be liars themselves or be very naive; pure logic has
never been a motivating force unless it has been subordinated to human purposes, feelings,
and desires, and thereby ceased to be pure logic.

110
1. According to the passage, to reject rhetoric and still hope to persuade people is
(A) an aim of most speakers and writers
(B) an indication either of dishonesty or of credulity
(C) a way of displaying distrust of the audience’s motives
(D) a characteristic of most humanistic discourse
(E) a way of avoiding excessively abstract reasoning

2. It can be inferred that in the late nineteenth century rhetoric was regarded as
(A) the only necessary element of persuasive discourse
(B) a dubious art in at least two ways
(C) an outmoded and tedious amplification of logic
(D) an open offense to the rational mind
(E) the most important of the humanistic studies

3. Passage suggests that disparagement of rhetoric by some people can be traced to their
(A) reaction against science (B) lack of training in logic
(C) desire to persuade people as completely as possible
(D) misunderstanding of the use of the term “scientistic” (E) view of human motivation

4. The passage suggests that a speech that attempts to persuade people to act is likely to fail
if it does NOT
(A) distort the truth a little to make it more acceptable to the audience
(B) appeal to the self-interest as well as the humanitarianism of the audience
(C) address listeners’ emotions as well as their intellects
(D) concede the logic of other points of view
(E) show how an immediately desirable action is consistent with timeless principles

5. The passage suggests that to consider people as “thinking machines” is to consider them
(A) beings separated from a historical context
(B) replaceable parts of a larger social machine
(C) more complex than other animals
(D) liars rather than honest people
(E) infallible in their reasoning

6. Which of the following persuasive devices is NOT used in the passage?

(A) A sample of an actual speech delivered by an orator
(B) The contrast of different points of view
(C) The repetition of key ideas and expressions
(D) An analogy that seeks to explain logical argument
(E) Evaluative or judgmental words

7. Which of the following best states the author’s main point about logical argument?
(A) It is a sterile, abstract discipline, of little use in real life.
(B) It is an essential element of persuasive discourse, but only one such element.
(C) It is an important means of persuading people to act against their desires.
(D) It is the lowest order of discourse because it is the least imaginative.
(E) It is essential to persuasive discourse because it deals with universal truths.
111

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
38/6KSC1REQ
RC 39

The intensive work of materials scientists and solid-state physicists has given rise to a class
of solids known as amorphous metallic alloys, or glassy metals. There is a growing interest
among theoretical and applied researchers alike in the structural properties of these
materials.

When a molten metal or metallic alloy is cooled to a solid, a crystalline structure is formed
that depends on the particular alloy composition. In contrast, molten nonmetallic glass-
forming materials, when cooled, do not assume a crystalline structure, but instead retain a
structure somewhat like that of the liquid—an amorphous structure. At room temperature,
the natural long-term tendency for both types of materials is to assume the crystalline
structure. The difference between the two is in the kinetics or rate of formation of the
crystalline structure, which is controlled by factors such as the nature of the chemical bonding
and the ease with which atoms move relative to each other. Thus, in metals, the kinetics
favors rapid formation of a crystalline structure, whereas in nonmetallic glasses the rate of
formation is so slow that almost any cooling rate is sufficient to result in an amorphous
structure. For glassy metals to be formed, the molten metal must be cooled extremely rapidly
so that crystallization is suppressed.

The structure of glassy metals is thought to be similar to that of liquid metals. One of the first
attempts to model the structure of a liquid was that by the late J. D. Bernal of the University
of London, who packed hard spheres into a rubber vessel in such a way as to obtain the
maximum possible density. The resulting dense, random-packed structure was the basis for
many attempts to model the structure of glassy metals. Calculations of the density of alloys
based on Bernal-type models of the alloys metal component agreed fairly well with the
experimentally determined values from measurements on alloys consisting of a noble metal
together with a metalloid, such as alloys of palladium and silicon, or alloys consisting of iron,
phosphorus, and carbon, although small discrepancies remained. One difference between real
alloys and the hard spheres used in Bernal models is that the components of an alloy have
different sizes, so that models based on two sizes of spheres are more appropriate for a
binary alloy, for example. The smaller metalloid atoms of the alloy might fit into holes in the
dense, random-packed structure of the larger metal atoms.

One of the most promising properties of glassy metals is their high strength combined with
high malleability. In usual crystalline materials, one finds an inverse relation between the two
properties, whereas for many practical applications simultaneous presence of both properties
is desirable. One residual obstacle to practical applications that is likely to be overcome is the
fact that glassy metals will crystallize at relatively low temperatures when heated slightly. 112
1. The author is primarily concerned with discussing
(A) crystalline solids and their behavior at different temperatures
(B) molten materials and the kinetics of the formation of their crystalline structure
(C) glassy metals and their structural characteristics
(D) metallic alloys and problems in determining their density
(E) amorphous materials and their practical utilization

2. Author implies that rate at which molten materials discussed are cooled is a determinant of
(A) chemical composition of the resulting solids
(B) strength of the chemical bonds that are formed
(C) kinetics of the materials’ crystalline structure
(D) structure the materials assume
(E) stability of the materials’ crystalline structure

3. The author’s speculation about the appropriateness of models using spheres of two sizes
for binary alloys would be strongly supported if models using spheres of two sizes yielded
(A) values for density identical to values yielded by one-sphere models using the smaller
spheres only
(B) values for density agreeing nearly perfectly with experimentally determined values
(C) values for density agreeing nearly perfectly with values yielded by models using spheres
of three sizes
(D) significantly different values for density depending on the size ratio between the two
kinds of spheres used
(E) the same values for density as the values for appropriately chosen models that use only
medium-sized spheres

4. The author’s attitude toward the prospects for economic utilization of glassy metals is one
(A) Disinterest (B) impatience (C) optimism (D) apprehension (E) skepticism

5. According to the passage, which of the following determines the crystalline structure of a
metallic alloy?
(A) At what rate the molten alloy is cooled
(B) How rapid the rate of formation of the crystalline phase is
(C) How the different-sized atoms fit into a dense, random-packed structure
(D) What the alloy consists of and in what ratios
(E) At what temperature the molten alloy becomes solid

6. Which of the following best describes the relationship between the structure of liquid
metals and the structure of glassy metals, as it is presented in the passage?
(A) The latter is an illustrative example of the former.
(B) The latter is a large-scale version of the former.
(C) The former is a structural elaboration of the latter
(D) The former provides an instructive contrast to the latter.
(E) The former is a fair approximation of the latter.
113
7. It can be inferred from the passage that, theoretically, molten nonmetallic glasses assume
a crystalline structure rather than an amorphous structure only if they are cooled
(A) very evenly, regardless of the rate (B) rapidly, followed by gentle heating
(C) extremely slowly (D) to room temperature (E) to extremely low temperatures

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
39/EI3HV1X2

114
RC 40

In a perfectly free and open market economy, the type of employer—government or private—
should have little or no impact on the earnings differentials between women and men.
However, if there is discrimination against one sex, it is unlikely that the degree of
discrimination by government and private employers will be the same. Differences in the
degree of discrimination would result in earnings differentials associated with the type of
employer. Given the nature of government and private employers, it seems most likely that
discrimination by private employers would be greater. Thus, one would expect that, if women
are being discriminated against, government employment would have a positive effect on
women’s earnings as compared with their earnings from private employment. The results of a
study by Fuchs support this assumption. Fuchs’s results suggest that the earnings of women
in an industry composed entirely of government employers would be 14.6 percent greater
than the earnings of women in an industry composed exclusively of private employees, other
things being equal.

In addition, both Fuchs and Sanborn have suggested that the effect of discrimination by
consumers on the earnings of self-employed women may be greater than the effect of either
government or private employer discrimination on the earnings of women employees. To test
this hypothesis, Brown selected a large sample of White male and female workers from the
1970 Census and divided them into three categories: private employees, government
employees, and self-employed. (Black workers were excluded from the sample to avoid
picking up earnings differentials that were the result of racial disparities.) Brown’s research
design controlled for education, labor-force participation, mobility, motivation, and age in
order to eliminate these factors as explanations of the study’s results. Brown’s results
suggest that men and women are not treated the same by employers and consumers. For
men, self-employment is the highest earnings category, with private employment next, and
government lowest. For women, this order is reversed.

One can infer from Brown’s results that consumers discriminate against self-employed
women. In addition, self-employed women may have more difficulty than men in getting good
employees and may encounter discrimination from suppliers and from financial institutions.

Brown’s results are clearly consistent with Fuch’s argument that discrimination by consumers
has a greater impact on the earnings of women than does discrimination by either
government or private employers. Also, the fact that women do better working for
government than for private employers implies that private employers are discriminating
against women. The results do not prove that government does not discriminate against
women. They do, however, demonstrate that if government is discriminating against women,
its discrimination is not having as much effect on women’s earnings as is discrimination in the
private sector.
115
1. The passage mentions all of the following as difficulties that self-employed women may
encounter EXCEPT:
(A) discrimination from suppliers
(B) discrimination from consumers
(C) discrimination from financial institutions
(D) problems in obtaining good employees
(E) problems in obtaining government assistance

2. Author would be most likely to agree with which of following conclusions about
discrimination against women by private employers & by government employers?
(A) Both private employers and government employers discriminate, with equal effects on
women’s earnings.
(B) Both private employers and government employers discriminate, but the discrimination
by private employers has a greater effect on women’s earnings.
(C) Both private employers & government employers discriminate, but discrimination by
government employers has a greater effect on women’s earnings.
(D) Private employers discriminate; it is possible that government employers discriminate.
(E) Private employers discriminate; government employers do not discriminate.

3. A study of the practices of financial institutions that revealed no discrimination against self-
employed women would tend to contradict which of following?
(A) Some tentative results of Fuchs’s study
(B) Some explicit results of Brown’s study
(C) A suggestion made by the author
(D) Fuchs’s hypothesis
(E) Sanborn’s hypothesis

4. According to Brown’s study, women’s earnings categories occur in which of following

orders, from highest earnings to lowest earning
(A) Government employment, self-employment, private employment
(B) Government employment, private employment, self-employment
(C) Private employment, self-employment, government employment
(D) Private employment, government employment, self-employment
(E) Self-employment, private employment, government employment

5. The passage explicitly answers which of the following questions?

(A) Why were Black workers excluded from the sample used in Brown’s study?
(B) Why do private employers illuminate more against women than do government
employers?
(C) Why do self-employed women have more difficulty than men in hiring high-quality
employees?
(D) Why do suppliers discriminate against self-employed women?
(E) Are Black women and Black men treated similarly by employers and consumers?

6. It can be inferred that the statements in the last paragraph are most probably which of the
following?
(A) Brown’s elaboration of his research results
116

(B) Brown’s tentative inference from his data

(C) Brown’s conclusions, based on common-sense reasoning
(D) The author’s conclusions, based on Fuchs’s and Brown’s results
(E) The author’s criticisms of Fuchs’s argument, based on Brown’s results

7. Which of the following titles best describes the content of the passage as a whole?
(A) The Necessity for Earnings Differentials in a Free Market Economy
(B) Why Discrimination Against Employed Women by Government Employers and Private
Employers Differs from Discrimination Against Self-Employed Women by Consumers
(C) How Discrimination Affects Women’s Choice of Type of Employment
(D) The Relative Effect of Private Employer Discrimination on Men’s Earnings as Compared to
Women’s Earnings
(E) The Relative Effect of Discrimination by Government Employers, Private Employers, and
Consumers on Women’s Earnings

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
40/ZJPNV6V8

117
RC 41

One of the principal themes of Walzer’s critique of liberal capitalism is that it is insufficiently
egalitarian. Walzer’s case against the economic inequality generated by capitalism and in
favor of “a radical redistribution of wealth” is presented in a widely cited essay entitled “In
Defense of Equality.”

The most striking feature of Walzer’s critique is that, far from rejecting the principle of reward
according to merit, Walzer insists on its validity. People who excel should receive the superior
benefits appropriate to their excellence. But people exhibit a great variety of qualities —
“intelligence, physical strength, agility & grace, artistic creativity, mechanical skill, leadership,
endurance, memory, psychological insight, the capacity for hard work—even moral strength,
sensitivity, the ability to express compassion.” Each deserves its proper recompense, & hence
a proper distribution of material goods should reflect human differences as measured on all
these different scales. Yet, under capitalism, ability to make money (“the green thumb of
bourgeois society”) enables its possessor to acquire almost “every other sort of social good,”
such as the respect & esteem of others.

The centerpiece of Walzer’s argument is the invocation of a quotation from Pascal’s Pensees,
which concludes: “Tyranny is the wish to obtain by one means what can only be had by
another.” Pascal believes that we owe different duties to different qualities. So we might say
that infatuation is the proper response to charm, and awe the proper response to strength. In
this light, Walzer characterizes capitalism as the tyranny of money (or of the ability to make
it). And Walzer advocates as the means of eliminating this tyranny and of restoring genuine
equality “the abolition of the power of money outside its sphere.” What Walzer envisions is a
society in which wealth is no longer convertible into social goods with which it has no intrinsic
connection.

Walzer’s argument is a puzzling one. After all, why should those qualities unrelated to the
production of material goods be rewarded with material goods? Is it not tyrannical, in Pascal’s
sense, to insist that those who excel in “sensitivity” or “the ability to express compassion”
merit equal wealth with those who excel in qualities (such as “the capacity for hard work”)
essential in producing wealth? Yet Walzer’s argument, however deficient, does point to one of
the most serious weaknesses of capitalism—namely, that it brings to predominant positions in
a society people who, no matter how legitimately they have earned their material rewards,
often lack those other qualities that evoke affection or admiration. Some even argue plausibly
that this weakness may be irremediable: in any society that, like a capitalist society, seeks to
become ever wealthier in material terms disproportionate rewards are bound to flow to the
people who are instrumental in producing the increase in its wealth. 118
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) argue that Walzer’s critique of liberal capitalism is the cornerstone of Walzer’s thinking
(B) identify and to deprecate the origins of the intellectual tradition championed by Walzer
(C) present more clearly than does the essay “In Defense of Equality” the distinctive features
of Walzer’s politico-economic theories
(D) demonstrate that Walzer’s critique of liberal capitalism is neither original nor persuasive
(E) outline and to examine critically Walzer’s position on economic equality

2. The author mentions all of the following as issues addressed by Walzer EXCEPT:
(A) proper recompense for individual excellence
(B) proper interpretation of “economic equality”
(C) proper level of a society’s wealth
(D) grounds for calling capitalism “the tyranny of money”
(E) exchangeability of money for social goods

3. The argumentation in the passage turns importantly on the question of what should be the
proper relation between
(A) “liberal capitalism” and “bourgeois society”
(B) “reward” and “recompense”
(C)“sensitivity” and “the ability to express compassion”
(D) “distribution of material goods” and “redistribution of wealth”
(E) “social goods” and “material goods”

4. The passage provides sufficient information to answer which of the following questions?
(A) What weight in relation to other qualities should a quality like sensitivity have, according
to Walzer, in determining the proper distribution of goods?
(B) Which quality does Walzer deem too highly valued under liberal capitalism?
(C) Which are the social goods that are, according to Walzer, outside the reach of the power
of money?
(D) What practical steps does Walzer suggest be taken to relieve the economic inequality
generated by capitalism?
(E) What deficiencies in Walzer’s own argument does Walzer acknowledge?

5. The author implies that Walzer’s interpretation of the principle of reward according to merit
is distinctive for its
(A) insistence on maximizing everyone’s rewards
(B) emphasis on equality
(C) proven validity
(D) broad conception of what constitutes merit
(E) broad conception of what constitutes a reward

6. The author’s interpretation of the principle that “we owe different duties to different
qualities” suggests that which of the following would most probably be the duty paired with
the quality of veracity?
(A) Dignity (B) Trust (C) Affection (D) Obedience (E) Integrity
119
7. The author implies that sensitivity is not a quality that
(A) is essential in producing wealth
(B) wealthy people lack
(C) can be sensibly measured on a scale
(D) characterizes tyrannical people
(E) is owed a duty in Pascal’s sense

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
41/CFCSU8VU

120
RC 42

Recent findings suggest that visual signals are fed into at least three separate processing
systems in the brain, each with its own distinct function. One system appears to process
information about shape perception; a second, information about color; a third, information
about movement, location, and spatial organization. An understanding of the functions and
capabilities of these three systems can shed light on how artists manipulate materials to
create surprising visual effects.

It is possible to summarize the functions of the three subsystems of the visual system as
follows. The parvo system carries highly detailed information about stationary objects and
about borders that are formed by contrasting colors. It does not, however, carry information
about specific colors. Because much of the information about the shape of objects can be
represented by their borders, we suspect that this system is important in shape perception.
The blob system processes information about colors, but not about movement, shape
discrimination, or depth. The magno system carries information about movement and depth.
It is good at detecting motion but poor at scrutinizing stationary images. In addition it
appears to be colorblind; it is unable to perceive borders that are visible only on the basis of
color contrast.

Cells in the parvo system can distinguish between two colors at any relative brightness of the
two. Cells in the color-blind magno system, on the other hand, are analogous to a black-and-
white photograph in the way they function: they signal information about the brightness of
surfaces but not about their colors. For any pair of colors there is a particular brightness ratio
at which two colors, for example red and green, will appear as the same shade of gray in a
black-and-white photograph, hence any border between them will vanish. Similarly at some
relative red-to-green brightness level, the red and green will appear identical to the magno
system. The red and green are then called equiluminant. A border between two equiluminant
colors has color contrast but no luminance contrast.

Many artists have seemed to be empirically aware of these underlying principles and have
used them to maximize particular effects. Some of the peculiar effects of Op Art, for example,
probably arise from color combinations that are strong activators of the parvo system but are
weak stimuli for the magno system. An object that is equiluminant with its background looks
vibrant and unstable. The reason is that the parvo system can signal the object’s shape but
the magno system cannot see its borders and therefore cannot signal either the movement or
the position of the object. Hence it seems to jump around, drift, or vibrate on the canvas.

121
1. The passage is primarily concerned with
(A) describing subsystems of the visual system and showing their relevance to art
(B) comparing three theories on how the visual system analyzes images in a work of art
(C) explaining how artists use color contrasts to create particular visual effects
(D) explaining how the visual system distinguishes among different colors
(E) describing functions of the first three phases of the visual system

2. Which of following would create visual effects most similar to those discussed in last para?
(A) A watercolor in which colors are applied imprecisely to outlined shapes
(B) A painting in which different shades of the same color are used to obscure the boundaries
between objects
(C) A black-and-white sketch in which shading is used to convey a sense of depth
(D) An advertisement in which key words are at the same level of brightness as a background
of contrasting color
(E) A design in which two different shades of gray are juxtaposed to heighten the contrast
between them

3. The passage provides information about which of the following?

(A) Why the same system can process information about movement and location
(B) Why the parvo system is considered to be responsible for shape perception
(C) Why the blob system can process information about colors but not movement
(D) The mechanism that enables the blob system to distinguish between stationary objects
(E) The mechanism that enables the magno system to carry information about shape
discrimination

4. According to the passage, which of the following is true of the visual system?
(A) It processes visual signals in three consecutive stages.
(B) It processes visual signals through separate processing systems in the brain.
(C) It consists of only three separate systems.
(D) It consists of a single hierarchical system rather than a multipartite system.
(E) It consists of separate system with high overlap in processing functions.

5. The author mentions a “black-and-white photograph” most probably in order to explain

(A) how the parvo system distinguishes between different shapes and colors
(B) how the magno system uses luminosity to identify borders between objects
(C) the mechanism that makes the magno system color-blind
(D) why the magno system is capable of perceiving moving images
(E) the brightness ratio at which colors become indistinguishable to the parvo system

6. The author uses all of the following in the discussion in the third paragraph EXCEPT:
(A) an example (B) definition of terms (C) contrast (D) a rhetorical question (E) analogy

7. The passage suggests which of the following about the magno system?
(A) It perceives borders on the basis of luminance contrast.
(B) It perceives shapes on the basis of color contrast.
(C) It is better at perceiving stationary objects than it is at detecting movement.
(D) It can detect motion but it cannot signal the position of an object.
122

(E) It is better at processing information about movement than it is at processing information

about depth.
Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
42/XML7RTMI

123
RC 43

Although, recent years have seen substantial reductions in noxious pollutants from individual
motor vehicles, the number of such vehicles has been steadily increasing consequently, more
than 100 cities in the United States still have levels of carbon monoxide, particulate matter,
and ozone (generated by photochemical reactions with hydrocarbons from vehicle exhaust)
that exceed legally established limits. There is a growing realization that the only effective
way to achieve further reductions in vehicle emissions—short of a massive shift away from
the private automobile—is to replace conventional diesel fuel and gasoline with cleaner-
burning fuels such as compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, ethanol, or methanol.

All of these alternatives are carbon-based fuels whose molecules are smaller and simpler than
those of gasoline. These molecules burn more cleanly than gasoline, in part because they
have fewer, if any, carbon-carbon bonds, and the hydrocarbons they do emit are less likely to
generate ozone. The combustion of larger molecules, which have multiple carbon-carbon
bonds, involves a more complex series of reactions. These reactions increase the probability
of incomplete combustion and are more likely to release uncombusted and photochemically
active hydrocarbon compounds into the atmosphere. On the other hand, alternative fuels do
have drawbacks. Compressed natural gas would require that vehicles have a set of heavy fuel
tanks —a serious liability in terms of performance and fuel efficiency—and liquefied petroleum
gas faces fundamental limits on supply.

Ethanol and methanol, on the other hand, have important advantages over other carbon-
based alternative fuels: they have a higher energy content per volume and would require
minimal changes in the existing network for distributing motor fuel. Ethanol is commonly
used as a gasoline supplement, but it is currently about twice as expensive as methanol, the
low cost of which is one of its attractive features. Methanol’s most attractive feature,
however, is that it can reduce by about 90 percent the vehicle emissions that form ozone, the
most serious urban air pollutant.

Like any alternative fuel, methanol has its critics. Yet much of the criticism is based on the
use of “gasoline clone” vehicles that do not incorporate even the simplest design
improvements that are made possible with the use of methanol. It is true, for example, that a
given volume of methanol provides only about one-half of the energy that gasoline and diesel
fuel do; other things being equal, the fuel tank would have to be somewhat larger and
heavier. However, since methanol-fueled vehicles could be designed to be much more
efficient than “gasoline clone” vehicles fueled with methanol, they would need comparatively
less fuel. Vehicles incorporating only the simplest of the engine improvements that methanol
makes feasible would still contribute to an immediate lessening of urban air pollution. 124
1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
(A) countering a flawed argument that dismisses a possible solution to a problem
(B) reconciling contradictory points of view about the nature of a problem
(C) identifying the strengths of possible solutions to a problem
(D) discussing a problem and arguing in favor of one solution to it
(E) outlining a plan of action to solve a problem and discussing the obstacles blocking that
plan

2. According to the passage, incomplete combustion is more likely to occur with gasoline than
with an alternative fuel because
(A) the combustion of gasoline releases photochemically active hydrocarbons
(B) the combustion of gasoline involves an intricate series of reactions
(C) gasoline molecules have a simple molecular structure
(D) gasoline is composed of small molecules.
(E) gasoline is a carbon-based fuel

3. The passage suggests which of the following about air pollution?

(A) Further attempts to reduce emissions from gasoline-fueled vehicles will not help lower
urban air-pollution levels.
(B) Attempts to reduce the pollutants that an individual gasoline-fueled vehicle emits have
been largely unsuccessful.
(C) Few serious attempts have been made to reduce the amount of pollutants emitted by
gasoline-fueled vehicles.
(D) Pollutants emitted by gasoline-fueled vehicles are not the most critical source of urban air
pollution.
(E) Reductions in pollutants emitted by individual vehicles have been offset by increases in
pollution from sources other than gasoline-fueled vehicles.

4. Which of the following most closely parallels the situation described in the first sentence of
the passage?
(A) Although a town reduces its public services in order to avoid a tax increase, the town’s
tax rate exceeds that of other towns in the surrounding area.
(B) Although a state passes strict laws to limit the type of toxic material that can be disposed
of in public landfills, illegal dumping continues to increase.
(C) Although a town’s citizens reduce their individual use of water, the town’s water supplies
continue to dwindle because of a steady increase in the total population of the town.
(D) Although a country attempts to increase the sale of domestic goods by adding a tax to
the price of imported goods, the sale of imported goods within the country continues to
increase.
(E) Although a country reduces the speed limit on its national highways, the number of
fatalities caused by automobile accidents continues to increase.

5. The author describes which of the following as the most appealing feature of methanol?
(A) It is substantially less expensive than ethanol.
(B) It could be provided to consumers through the existing motor fuel distribution system.
(C) It has a higher energy content than other alternative fuels.
(D) Its use would make design improvements in individual vehicles feasible.
125

(E) Its use would substantially reduce ozone levels.

6. It can be inferred from the passage that a vehicle specifically designed to use methanol for
fuel would
(A) be somewhat lighter in total body weight than a conventional vehicle fueled with gasoline
(B) be more expensive to operate than a conventional vehicle fueled with gasoline
(C) have a larger and more powerful engine than a conventional vehicle fueled with gasoline
(D) have a larger and heavier fuel tank than a “gasoline clone” vehicle fueled with methanol
(E) average more miles per gallon than a “gasoline clone” vehicle fueled with methanol

7. It can be inferred that the author of the passage most likely regards the criticism of
methanol in the last paragraph as
(A) flawed because of the assumptions on which it is based
(B) inapplicable because of an inconsistency in the critics’ arguments
(C) misguided because of its exclusively technological focus
(D) inaccurate because it ignores consumers’ concerns
(E) invalid because it reflects the personal bias of the critics

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
43/647F2068

126
RC 44

The complications frequently accompanying diabetes, such as impairment of vision and of

kidney function, are now thought to result from the lack of continuous control of blood
glucose concentrations. The healthy pancreas, in response to increases in blood glucose
concentration, releases small quantities of insulin throughout the day and thereby maintains
the concentration within physiological limits (normoglycemia). But the diabetic generally
receives only one large dose daily. The diabetic’s blood glucose concentration can thus
fluctuate greatly during the interval between doses, and it has been suggested that the
complications result from the periods of high concentrations of blood glucose
(hyperglycemia). Many investigators thus believe that restoration of normoglycemia might
halt the progression of such complications and perhaps even reverse them.

There are three primary techniques that have been investigated for restoration of
normoglycemia. They are: transplantation of whole, healthy pancreases; transplantation of
islets of Langerhans, that portion of the pancreas that actually secretes insulin; and
implantation of artificial pancreases. There has, in fact, been a great deal of success in the
development of these techniques and each seems, on the whole, promising. Nonetheless, it
will undoubtedly be many years before any one of them is accepted as a treatment for
diabetes.

To many people, the obvious approach would seem to be simply to transplant pancreases
from cadavers in the same manner that kidneys and other organs are routinely transplanted.
That was the rationale in 1966 when the first recorded pancreas transplant was performed.
Between 1966 and 1975, there were forty-six pancreas transplants in forty-five other patients
in the United States and five other countries. But only one of these patients is still alive with a
functioning graft, and surgeons have found that the procedure is not as simple as they once
thought.

The surviving patient has required no insulin since the operation. Another patient survived
638 days without requiring insulin. And one patient survived a transplantation for more than
a year, but died when he chose not to take the immunosuppressive drugs. These results,
though meager, suggest that the procedure has the potential for success.

The rest of the patients, however, either rejected the transplant or died within a short period.
There does not appear to be any technical problem with the procedure. Rather, most of the
patients were already so severely debilitated by the complications of diabetes that they could
not withstand the surgery and the immunosuppressive regimen required to prevent rejection.
More than half of the patients, furthermore, also required a kidney transplant. Most
investigators now agree that the simultaneous transplantation of both organs is too great a
shock to the patient and greatly increases the total risk.
127
1. Which of the following best states one of the main conclusions of the passage?
(A) Although the techniques for pancreas transplants appear to be theoretically correct, there
are problems that must be solved before the operation can be used as a treatment for
diabetes.
(B) Although the techniques for pancreas transplants are still being developed, the
experimental results show that the operation will be a successful treatment for diabetes in the
near future.
(C) Although pancreas transplants are reliable, many diabetics are reluctant to undergo the
operation because of side effects of immunosuppressive drugs.
(D) Although pancreas transplants alone are not generally successful, operation can be used
in conjunction with other procedures to treat diabetes
(E) Although pancreas transplants have not been successful in treating diabetes, research
indicates that other procedures may soon be developed.

2. According to the passage, widely spaced doses of insulin can cause.

(A) reversal of normal kidney function
(B) delay in the onset of diabetes
(C) radical changes in the concentration of blood glucose
(D) restoration of normoglycemia
(E) marked variations in the islets of Langerhans

3. According to the passage, a periodic high concentration of blood glucose in diabetics is a

possible cause of
(A) deterioration of the pancreas (B) damage to the eyes and kidneys
(C) rejection of transplanted organs (D) inadequate secretion of insulin
(E) increased production of blood cells

4. It can be inferred that one of the important contributing causes of the failure of most
pancreas transplants has been the
(A) reluctance of patients to cooperate with physicians
(B) imperfect techniques used in the operations (C) scarcity of immunosuppressive drugs
(D) unavailability or healthy pancreases (E) weakened condition of the patients

5. The author provides information that would answer which of the following questions?
I. What is hyperglycemia? II. What is one cause of hyperglycemia?
III. What are some of the organs that can be adversely affected by hyperglycemia?
(A) I only (B) II only (C) I and III only (D) II and III only (E) I, II, and III

6. On basis of passage, which of the following can be inferred about the islets of Langerhans?
I. They are important for the normal control of blood glucose concentration.
II. They can be transplanted independently of other pancreatic cells.
III. They regulate immunosuppressive reactions.
(A) I only (B) III only (C) I and II only (D) I and III only (E) I, II, and III

7. The passage suggests that the author considers the data concerning the success of
pancreas transplants to be
(A) Invalid (B) indirect (C) inaccurate (D) insufficient (E) inappropriate
128

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
44/06FNMR0X
RC 45

In February 1848 the people of Paris rose in revolt against the constitutional monarchy of
Louis-Philippe. Despite the existence of excellent narrative accounts, the February Days, as
this revolt is called, have been largely ignored by social historians of the past two decades.
For each of the three other major insurrections in nineteenth-century Paris—July 1830, June
1848, and May 1871—there exists at least a sketch of participants’ backgrounds and an
analysis, more or less rigorous, of the reasons for the occurrence of the uprisings. Only in the
case of the February Revolution do we lack a useful description of participants that might
characterize it in the light of what social history has taught us about the process of
revolutionary mobilization.

Two reasons for this relative neglect seem obvious. First, the insurrection of February has
been overshadowed by that of June. The February Revolution overthrew a regime, to be sure,
but met with so little resistance that it failed to generate any real sense of historical drama.
Its successor, on the other hand, appeared to pit key socioeconomic groups in a life-or-death
struggle and was widely seen by contemporary observers as marking a historical departure.
Through their interpretations, which exert a continuing influence on our understanding of the
revolutionary process, the impact of the events of June has been magnified, while, as an
unintended consequence, the significance of the February insurrection has been diminished.
Second, like other “successful” insurrections, the events of February failed to generate the
most desirable kinds of historical records. Although the June insurrection of 1848 and the
Paris Commune of 1871 would be considered watersheds of nineteenth-century French
history by any standard, they also present the social historian with a signal advantage: these
failed insurrections created a mass of invaluable documentation as a by-product of
authorities’ efforts to search out and punish the rebels.

Quite different is the outcome of successful insurrections like those of July 1830 and February
1848. Experiences are retold, but participants typically resume their daily routines without
ever recording their activities. Those who played salient roles may become the objects of
highly embellished verbal accounts or in rare cases, of celebratory articles in contemporary
periodicals. And it is true that the publicly acknowledged leaders of an uprising frequently
write memoirs. However, such documents are likely to be highly unreliable, unrepresentative,
and unsystematically preserved, especially when compared to the detailed judicial dossiers
prepared for everyone arrested following a failed insurrection. As a consequence, it may
prove difficult or impossible to establish for a successful revolution a comprehensive and
trustworthy picture of those who participated, or to answer even the most basic questions
one might pose concerning the social origins of the insurgents.
129
1. According to the passage, “a useful description of participants” exists for which of the
following insurrections of nineteenth-century France?
I. The July Insurrection of 1830 II. The February Revolution of 1848
III. The June insurrection of 1848 IV. The May insurrection of 1871
(A) I and III only (B) II and IV only (C) I, II, and III only
(D) I, III, and IV only (E) II, III, and IV only

2. It can be inferred from the passage that support for the objectives of the February
Revolution was
(A) Negligible (B) misguided (C) fanatical (D) spontaneous (E) widespread

3. Which of the following, best describes the organization of the second paragraph?
(A) The thesis of the passage is stated and supporting evidence systematically presented.
(B) Two views regarding the thesis presented in the first paragraph are compared and
contrasted.
(C) Evidence refuting the thesis presented in the first paragraph is systematically presented.
(D) The thesis presented in the first paragraph is systematically supported.
(E) The thesis presented in the first paragraph is further defined and a conclusion drawn.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author considers which of the following
essential for understanding a revolutionary mobilization?
(A) A comprehensive theory of revolution that can be applied to the major insurrections of
the nineteenth century
(B) Awareness of the events necessary for a revolution to be successful
(C) Access to narratives and memoirs written by eyewitnesses of a given revolution
(D) The historical perspective provided by the passage of a considerable amount of time
(E) Knowledge of the socioeconomic backgrounds of a revolution’s participants

5. Which of the following can be inferred about the “detailed judicial dossiers”?
(A) Information contained in the dossiers sheds light on the social origins of a revolution’s
participants.
(B) The dossiers closely resemble the narratives written by the revolution’s leaders in their
personal memoirs.
(C) The information that such dossiers contain is untrustworthy and unrepresentative of a
revolution’s participants.
(D) Social historians prefer to avoid such dossiers whenever possible because they are
excessively detailed.
(E) The February Revolution of 1848 produced more of these dossiers than did the June
insurrection.

6. Which of the following is the most logical objection to the claim made in the 1 st line of the
last para?
(A) The February Revolution of 1848 is much less significant than the July insurrection of
1830.
(B) The backgrounds and motivations of participants in the July insurrection of 1830 have
been identified, however cursorily.
(C) Even less is known about the July insurrection of 1830 than about the February
130

Revolution of 1848.
(D) Historical records made during July insurrection of 1830 are less reliable than those made
during May insurrection of 1871
(E) The importance of the July insurrection of 1830 has been magnified at the expense of the
significance of the February Revolution of 1848.

7. With which of the following statements regarding revolution would the author most likely
agree?
(A) Revolutionary mobilization requires a great deal of planning by people representing
disaffected groups.
(B) The objectives of the February Revolution were more radical than those of the June
insurrection.
(C) The process of revolutionary mobilization varies greatly from one revolution to the next.
(D) Revolutions vary greatly in the usefulness of the historical records that they produce.
(E) As knowledge of the February Revolution increases, chances are good that its importance
will eventually eclipse that of the June insurrection.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
45/9C7XH8DS

131
RC 46

One of the simplest and best known kinds of crystal is the ionic salt, of which a typical
example is sodium chloride or ordinary table salt. The fundamental components of an ionic
salt are ions: atoms or molecules that have become electrically charged by gaining or losing
one or more electrons. In forming sodium chloride, for example, sodium atoms give up an
electron (thereby becoming positively charged) and chlorine atoms gain an electron (thereby
becoming negatively charged). The ions are attracted to one another by their opposite
charges, and they stack together compactly, like tightly packed spheres.

Recently, scientists at Michigan State University created a new kind of crystal called an
electride. In electrides, the anions (negative ions) are completely replaced by electrons,
which are trapped in naturally formed cavities within a framework of regularly stacked cations
(positive ions). Electrides are the first examples of ionic salts in which all these anionic sites
are occupied solely by electrons.

Unlike other types of anions, anionic electrons do not behave as if they were simple charged
spheres. In particular, because of their low mass and their tendency to interact with one
another over great distances, they cannot be “pinned down” to any one location. Instead,
they wander close to and among the atoms lining the cavity and interact with electrons in
nearby cavities, perhaps changing places with them.

The properties of an electride depend largely on the distance between the cavities that hold
trapped electrons. When the trapped electrons are far apart, they do not interact strongly,
and so behave somewhat like an array of isolated negative charges. When they are closer
together, they begin to display properties associated with large ensembles of identical
particles. When they are still closer, the ensemble properties dominate and the electrons
“delocalize”: they are no longer tightly bound within individual cavities but are more or less
free to pass through the spaces within the frame-work of positive ions.

By synthesizing electrides from a variety of materials, one can vary the geometry of the
anionic cavities and their relation to the surrounding cations. The resulting properties may
make it possible for electrides to become a basis for economically useful new materials and
devices. For instance, because the electrons in some electrides are very weakly bound, these
crystals could be effective as photosensitive detectors, in which an impinging photon liberates
an electron, resulting in a small electric current. The same weak binding could also make
electrides useful in solar-energy converters and as cathodes in batteries. One obstacle is the
tendency of electrides to decompose through reaction with air and water. Researchers are
seeking ways to increase their stability.
132
1. The passage is primarily concerned with discussing
(A) a way to isolate electrons
(B) the characteristics of a new kind of crystal
(C) the structure of an ionic salt
(D) commercial uses for electrides
(E) the properties of ions

2. In the first paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with

(A) introducing a variant on the standard atomic theory
(B) describing how chlorine atoms can become negatively charged
(C) describing some early research at Michigan State University
(D) presenting the identifying properties of an electride
(E) providing background for the technical discussion to follow

3. It can be inferred that differences between the behavior of anionic electrons & normal
anions result from which of following features of electrons, as compared to normal anions?
I. The much lower mass of electrons
II. The much greater tendency of electrons to interact with one another over large distances
III. The much greater likelihood of electrons to remain trapped in naturally formed anionic
cavities
(A) I only (B) II only (C) I and II only (D) I and III only (E) II and III only

4. According to passage, the defining characteristic of an electride is which of the following?

(A) Its positive ions are of particularly low mass.
(B) Its ions possess identical electrical charges.
(C) It contains a framework of regularly stacked ions.
(D) Its ions demonstrate strong mutual attraction.
(E) Its negative ions consist solely of electrons.

5. It can be inferred that anions behaving as “simple charged spheres” could be expected to
(A) readily lose electrons and become positively charged
(B) move freely in and out of their cavities
(C) respond to photons by liberating electrons
(D) stack with other anions to create a regular framework
(E) remain fixed relative to their cations

6. It can be inferred from the passage that an electride behaves most like a normal ionic
crystal when the electride has which of the following features?
(A) The anionic cavities are widely separated.
(B) All of the trapped electrons are able to delocalize.
(C) The trapped electrons are liberated by impinging photons.
(D) The ions are tightly packed together.
(E) Most of the cations have lost their electrical charge.

7. With which of following statements regarding electrides would author most likely agree?
(A) They have proven themselves to be of great commercial value.
(B) Their future commercial value is promising but uncertain.
133

(C) They are interesting but of no practical value.

(D) They have commercial value mainly in solar-energy applications.
(E) Their principal importance will lie in scientific research.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
46/M0FF5XMQ

134
RC 47

In the fields of Delano, California, in 1965, Luis Valdez started the Teatro Campesino
(Farmworker’s Theater), and with it initiated the renaissance of Mexican American theater.
The Teatro Campesino had an avowedly political purpose: to rally campesinos (farmworkers)
in support of the farm workers’ strike then being organized by Cesar Chavez. Valdez’
dramatic presentations, called actos, spoke to a campesino audience and addressed topics
and themes directly related to the strike. Valdez’ early actos were composed of a series of
scenes about the strike experience acted by campesino volunteers. His later actos were
presented by a newly constituted professional company, still called the Teatro Campesino,
and addressed such themes as the impact of the Vietnam War on Mexican Americans and the
dangers of assimilation, themes relevant to urban Mexican Americans as well as to
campesinos. All Valdez’ actos contained elements of song and dance, relied little on stage
effects or props, and featured the use of masks. These dramatic elements, along with an
intensely social or political purpose and the use of a mixture of Spanish, English, and Mexican
American dialects in the dialogues, which realistically capture the flavor of Mexican American
conversation, are still characteristic both of the acto and of most other forms of Mexican
American theater today.

Innovative as it is, the acto owes much to the theater traditions of other periods and regions.
Like early Spanish American religious dramas, secular folk dramas, and the Mexican carpas of
a somewhat later period, actos are usually performed outdoors by traveling groups of players
or by local theater groups.

The improvised comic satire of the actos is often attributed to Valdez’ study of the Italian
commedia dell’ arte of the sixteenth century, although some critics see it as a direct reflection
of the comic and improvisational qualities of the more contemporary and local carpas of
Mexican theater. The Italian influence is likely, whatever Valdez immediate source: the
Mexican carpas themselves are said to have originated from the theater pieces of a sixteenth-
century Spanish writer inspired by encounters with Italian commedia dell’ arte troupes on
tour in Spain. The English-language theater has provided elements as well: Valdez himself
has acknowledged his debt to the agitprop socialist theater that appeared in the United States
during the 1920’s and 1930’s. In particular, his actos contain the same assortment of
semiallegorical characters and the same blend of music, chorus, and dialogue found in some
of the agitprop pieces, as well as the same fierce spirit of social and political critique. Finally,
many of Valdez’ later theater pieces freely incorporate characters, plots and symbols drawn
from the indigenous myths and rituals of the pre-Hispanic peoples of Latin America. In fact,
no other art form illustrates more clearly the depth and complexity of the Mexican American
heritage itself than does the acto of Luis Valdez and the Teatro Campesino. 135
1. According to the passage, the original impetus behind the establishment of the Teatro
Campesino was which of the following?
(A) To help urban Mexican Americans understand the problems confronting striking
campesinos in California
(B) To promote an attitude of pride in the depth & richness of Mexican American heritage
among striking campesinos
(C) To provide striking campesinos an opportunity to use their creative talents to express
their political opinions
(D) To allow its founder to express his personal support of the campesinos’ strike effort
(E) To mobilize campesinos to support the farm workers’ strike in California

2. The author cites all of the following as probable influences on Valdez’ development of the
acto EXCEPT the
(A) theater of sixteenth-century Italy
(B) carpas of Mexico
(C) drama of classical Greece
(D) English-language theater of the United States
(E) myths and rituals of pre-Hispanic America

3. The passage suggests that which of the following was true of the later actos of the Teatro
Campesino?
(A) They were more politically effective than were earlier actos.
(B) They were presented primarily outdoors, whereas earlier actos were presented inside
theaters.
(C) They used a greater mixture of dialects than did the earlier actos.
(D) They addressed a broader audience than did the earlier actos.
(E) They differed from earlier actos in that they contained fewer improvisational elements.

4. Which of the following best describes the author’s evaluation of the views of the critics
cited in the passage?
(A) Their views, if correct, do not preclude the existence of an Italian influence on the acto.
(B) Their views are unlikely to be correct, given the differences existing between Mexican &
Mexican American theater
(C) Their views concerning the Mexican carpas are essentially correct, but they lack
familiarity with the acto.
(D) Their views are probably more correct than the views of those who have attributed the
comic and improvisational elements of the acto to earlier sources.
(E) Their views betray a lack of familiarity with the commedia dell’ arte.

5. The passage suggests that which of the following explains the characteristic use of a
mixture of Spanish, English, and Mexican American dialects in the works of Mexican American
playwrights?
(A) Mexican American playwrights wish to include in their works elements drawn from the
traditions and history of pre-Hispanic America.
(B) Mexican American playwrights try to guarantee that their works are fully understood by
the broadest possible audience, including those who may speak only one language.
(C) Such a linguistic mix faithfully reflects the linguistic diversity of Mexican American culture,
136

and is easily understood by most Mexican Americans.

(D) Many Mexican American playwrights are quite familiar with both Spanish-language &
English-language theater traditions.
(E) Many different languages are still spoken within the confines of the United States,
although English is still the most common first language of its citizens.

6. According to the passage, which of the following elements characteristic of the acto are
also found in some agitprop theater pieces?
(A) The use of masks
(B) Comic improvisation
(C) An outdoor setting
(D) Minimal use of complex stage effects or props
(E) An assortment of semiallegorical characters

7. Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the author’s argument concerning the
debt of the acto to the theater traditions of other periods & regions?
(A) Many popular forms of theater rely heavily on improvisation.
(B) Plays resembling the acto in structure were written in the 1970’s by West African
playwrights who are interested in dramatizing the richness of their own cultures.
(C) The use of masks has, at one time or another, been characteristic of the theater
traditions of almost all cultures, even those most isolated from outside influences.
(D) During a strike, it is common for union members to present musical skits dramatizing the
values of solidarity & resistance.
(E) Before 1965 Luis Valdez had attended many performances of traditional Mexican theater
groups touring the western United States.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
47/DGMXJKBL

137
RC 48

Human relations have commanded people’s attention from early times. The ways of people
have been recorded in innumerable myths, folktales, novels, poems, plays, and popular or
philosophical essays. Although the full significance of a human relationship may not be
directly evident, the complexity of feelings and actions that can be understood at a glance is
surprisingly great. For this reason psychology holds a unique position among the sciences.

“Intuitive” knowledge may be remarkably penetrating and can significantly help us

understand human behavior, whereas in the physical sciences such commonsense knowledge
is relatively primitive. If we erased all knowledge of scientific physics from our modem word,
not only would we not have cars and television sets, we might even find that the ordinary
person was unable to cope with the fundamental mechanical problems of pulleys and levers.
On the other hand if we removed all knowledge of scientific psychology from our world,
problems in interpersonal relations might easily be coped with and solved much as before. We
would still “know” how to avoid doing something asked of us and how to get someone to
agree with us; we would still “know” when someone was angry and when someone was
pleased. One could even offer sensible explanations for the “whys” of much of the self’s
behavior and feelings. In other words, the ordinary person has a great and profound
understanding of the self and of other people which, though unformulated or only vaguely
conceived, enables one to interact with others in more or less adaptive ways. Kohler, in
referring to the lack of great discoveries in psychology as compared with physics, accounts
for this by saying that “people were acquainted with practically all territories of mental life a
long time before the founding of scientific psychology.”

Paradoxically, with all this natural, intuitive, commonsense capacity to grasp human relations,
the science of human relations has been one of the last to develop. Different explanations of
this paradox have been suggested. One is that science would destroy the vain and pleasing
illusions people have about themselves; but we might ask why people have always loved to
read pessimistic, debunking writings, from Ecclesiastes to Freud. It has also been proposed
that just because we know so much about people intuitively, there has been less incentive for
studying them scientifically; why should one develop a theory, carry out systematic
observations, or make predictions about the obvious? In any case, the field of human
relations, with its vast literary documentation but meager scientific treatment, is in great
contrast to the field of physic in which there are relatively few nonscientific books.

138
1. It has been suggested that the science of human relations was slow to develop because
(A) intuitive knowledge of human relations is derived from philosophy
(B) early scientists were more interested in the physical world
(C) scientific studies of human relations appear to investigate the obvious
(D) the scientific method is difficult to apply to the study of human relations
(E) people generally seem to be more attracted to literary than to scientific writings about
human relations

2. The author’s statement that “Psychology holds a unique position among the sciences” is
supported by which of the following claims in the passage?
(A) The full meaning of a human relationship may not be obvious.
(B) Commonsense understanding of human relations can be incisive.
(C) Intuitive knowledge in the physical sciences is relatively advanced.
(D) Subjective bias is difficult to control in psychological research.
(E) Psychological facts are too imprecise to lead to great discoveries.

3. According to the passage, an understanding of the self can be

(A) highly biased due to unconscious factors
(B) profound even when vaguely conceived
(C) improved by specialized training
(D) irrelevant for understanding human relations
(E) more reliable than knowledge about other people

4. It can be inferred that the author would most likely agree with which of the following
statements regarding people who lived before the advent of scientific psychology?
(A) Their understanding of human relations was quite limited.
(B) They were uninterested in acquiring knowledge of the physical world.
(C) They misunderstood others more frequently than do people today.
(D) Their intuitions about human relations were reasonably sophisticated.
(E) They were more likely to hold pleasing illusions about themselves than are people today.

5. Author implies that attempts to treat human relations scientifically have been relatively
(A) Unilluminating (B) paradoxical (C) pessimistic (D) encouraging (E) uninterpretable

6. The author refers to people who are attracted to “pessimistic, debunking writings” in order
to support which of the following ideas?
(A) Interesting books about human relations are typically pessimistic.
(B) People tend to ignore scientific explanations of human relations.
(C) People rarely hold pleasing illusions about themselves.
(D) A scientific approach human relations would undermine the pleasing illusions people hold
of themselves.
(E) It is doubtful that science of human relations developed slowly because of a desire to
maintain pleasing illusions.

7. It can be inferred that author assumes that commonsense knowledge of human relations is
(A) equally well developed among all adults within a given society
(B) considerably more accurate in some societies than in others
139

(C) biased insofar as it is based on myths and folktales

(D) typically unrelated to an individual’s interactions with other people
(E) usually sufficiently accurate to facilitate interactions with others

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
48/W2E9GZLM

140
RC 49

The two claws of the mature American lobster are decidedly different from each other. The
crusher claw is short and stout; the cutter claw is long and slender. Such bilateral
asymmetry, in which the right side of the body is, in all other respects, a mirror image of the
left side, is not unlike handedness in humans. But where the majority of humans are right-
handed, in lobsters the crusher claw appears with equal probability on either the right or left
side of the body.

Bilateral asymmetry of the claws comes about gradually. In the juvenile fourth and fifth
stages of development, the paired claws are symmetrical and cutterlike. Asymmetry begins to
appear in the juvenile sixth stage of development, and the paired claws further diverge
toward well-defined cutter and crusher claws during succeeding stages. An intriguing aspect
of this development was discovered by Victor Emmel. He found that if one of the paired claws
is removed during the fourth or fifth stage, the intact claw invariably becomes a crusher,
while the regenerated claw becomes a cutter. Removal of a claw during a later juvenile stage
or during adulthood, when asymmetry is present, does not alter the asymmetry; the intact
and the regenerate claws retain their original structures.

These observations indicate that the conditions that trigger differentiation must operate in a
random manner when the paired claws are intact but in a nonrandom manner when one of
the claws is lost. One possible explanation is that differential use of the claws determines
their asymmetry. Perhaps the claw that is used more becomes the crusher. This would
explain why, when one of the claws is missing during the fourth or fifth stage, the intact claw
always becomes a crusher. With two intact claws, initial use of one claw might prompt the
animal to use it more than the other throughout the juvenile fourth and fifth stages, causing
it to become a crusher.

To test this hypothesis, researchers raised lobsters in the juvenile fourth and fifth stages of
development in a laboratory environment in which the lobsters could manipulate oyster chips.
(Not coincidentally, at this stage of development lobsters typically change from a habitat
where they drift passively, to the ocean floor where they have the opportunity to be more
active by burrowing in the substrate.) Under these conditions, the lobsters developed
asymmetric claws, half with crusher claws on the left, and half with crusher claws on the
right. In contrast, when juvenile lobsters were reared in a smooth tank without the oyster
chips, the majority developed two cutter claws. This unusual configuration of symmetrical
cutter claws did not change when the lobsters were subsequently placed in a manipulatable
environment or when they lost and regenerated one or both claws.
141
1. The passage is primarily concerned with
(A) drawing an analogy between asymmetry in lobsters and handedness in humans
(B) developing a method for predicting whether crusher claws in lobsters will appear on the
left or right side
(C) explaining differences between lobsters’ crusher claws and cutter claws
(D) discussing a possible explanation for the way bilateral asymmetry is determined in
lobsters
(E) summarizing the stages of development of the lobster

2. Each of following statements about the development of a lobster’s crusher claw is

supported by information in passage EXCEPT:
(A) It can be stopped on one side and begun on the other after the juvenile sixth stage.
(B) It occurs gradually over a number of stages.
(C) It is initially apparent in the juvenile sixth stage.
(D) It can occur even when a prospective crusher claw is removed in the juvenile sixth stage.
(E) It is less likely in the absence of a manipulatable environment.

3. Which of the following experimental results, if observed, would most clearly contradict the
findings of Victor Emmel?
(A) A left cutterlike claw is removed in the fifth stage and a crusher claw develops on the
right side.
(B) A left cutterlike claw is removed in the fourth stage and a crusher claw develops on the
left side.
(C) A left cutterlike claw is removed in the sixth stage and a crusher claw develops on the
right side.
(D) Both cutterlike claws are removed in the fifth stage and a crusher claw develops on the
left side.
(E) Both cutterlike claws are removed in the fourth stage and a crusher claw develops on the
right side.

4. It can be inferred that of the two laboratory environments mentioned in the passage, the
one with oyster chips was designed to
(A) prove that the presence of oyster chips was not necessary for the development of a
crusher claw
(B) prove that the relative length of time that the lobsters were exposed to the oyster-chip
environment had little impact on development of a crusher claw
(C) eliminate the environment as a possible influence in the development of a crusher cla
(D) control on which side the crusher claw develops
(E) simulate the conditions that lobsters encounter in their natural environment

5. It can be inferred from the passage that one difference between lobsters in the earlier
stages of development and those in the juvenile fourth and fifth stages is that lobsters in the
early stages are
(A) likely to be less active
(B) likely to be less symmetrical
(C) more likely to lose a claw
(D) more likely to replace a crusher claw with a cutter claw
142

(E) more likely to regenerate a lost claw

6. Which of the following conditions does the passage suggest is a possible cause for the
failure of a lobster to develop a crusher claw?
(A) The loss of a claw during the third or earlier stage of development
(B) The loss of a claw during the fourth or fifth stage of development
(C) The loss of a claw during the sixth stage of development
(D) Development in an environment devoid of material that can be manipulated
(E) Development in an environment that changes frequently throughout the stages of
development

7. The author regards the idea that differentiation is triggered randomly when paired claws
remain intact as
(A) irrefutable considering the authoritative nature of Emmel’s observations
(B) likely in view of present evidence
(C) contradictory to conventional thinking on lobster-claw differentiation
(D) purely speculative because it is based on scattered research and experimentation
(E) unlikely because of apparent inconsistencies with theories on handedness in humans

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
49/KFMXICVH

143
RC 50

Defenders of special protective labor legislation for women often maintain that eliminating
such laws would destroy the fruits of a century-long struggle for the protection of women
workers. Even a brief examination of the historic practice of courts and employers would
show that the fruit of such laws has been bitter: they are, in practice, more of a curse than a
blessing.

Sex-defined protective laws have often been based on stereotypical assumptions concerning
women’s needs and abilities, and employers have frequently used them as legal excuses for
discriminating against women. After the Second World War, for example, businesses and
government sought to persuade women to vacate jobs in factories, thus making room in the
labor force for returning veterans. The revival or passage of state laws limiting the daily or
weekly work hours of women conveniently accomplished this. Employers had only to declare
that overtime hours were a necessary condition of employment or promotion in their factory,
and women could be quite legally fired, refused jobs, or kept at low wage levels, all in the
name of “protecting” their health. By validating such laws when they are challenged by
lawsuits, the courts have colluded over the years in establishing different, less advantageous
employment terms for women than for men, thus reducing women’s competitiveness on the
job market. At the same time, even the most well-intentioned lawmakers, courts, and
employers have often been blind to the real needs of women. The lawmakers and the courts
continue to permit employers to offer employee health insurance plans that cover all known
human medical disabilities except those relating to pregnancy and childbirth.

Finally, labor laws protecting only special groups are often ineffective at protecting the
workers who are actually in the workplace. Some chemicals, for example, pose reproductive
risks for women of childbearing years; manufacturers using the chemicals comply with laws
protecting women against these hazards by refusing to hire them. Thus the sex-defined
legislation protects the hypothetical female worker, but has no effect whatever on the safety
of any actual employee. The health risks to male employees in such industries cannot be
negligible, since chemicals toxic enough to cause birth defects in fetuses or sterility in women
are presumably harmful to the human metabolism. Protective laws aimed at changing
production materials or techniques in order to reduce such hazards would benefit all
employees without discriminating against any.

In sum, protective labor laws for women are discriminatory and do not meet their intended
purpose. Legislators should recognize that women are in the work force to stay, and that
their needs—good health care, a decent wage, and a safe workplace—are the needs of all
workers. Laws that ignore these facts violate women’s rights for equal protection in
employment.
144
1. According to author, which of following resulted from the passage or revival of state laws
limiting the work hours of women workers?
(A) Women workers were compelled to leave their jobs in factories.
(B) Many employers had difficulty in providing jobs for returning veterans.
(C) Many employers found it hard to attract women workers.
(D) The health of most women factory workers improved.
(E) Employment practices that addressed the real needs of women workers became common.

2. The author places the word “protecting” in quotation marks most likely in order to suggest
that
(A) she is quoting the actual wording of the laws in question
(B) the protective nature of the laws in question should not be overlooked
(C) protecting the health of workers is important to those who support protective labor laws
(D) the laws in question were really used to detriment of women workers, despite being
overtly protective in intent
(E) the health of workers is not in need of protection, even in jobs where many hours of
overtime work are required

3. The passage suggests that which of the following is a shortcoming of protective labor laws
that single out a particular group of workers for protection?
(A) Such laws are often too weak to be effective at protecting the group in question.
(B) Such laws are usually drafted by legislators who, do not have the best interests of
workers at heart.
(C) Such laws exert no pressure on employers to eliminate hazards in the workplace.
(D) Compliance with such laws is often costly for employers & provokes lawsuits by
employees claiming discrimination
(E) Employer compliance with such laws results in increased tension among workers on the
job, because such laws unfairly privilege one group of employees over another.

4. According to first paragraph of the passage, the author considers which of the following to
be most helpful in determining the value of special protective labor legislation for women?
(A) A comparative study of patterns of work-related illnesses in states that had such laws and
in states that did not (B) An estimate of how many women workers are in favor of such laws
(C) An analysis of the cost to employers of complying with such laws
(D) A consideration of what intentions the advocates of such laws really had concerning
women workers
(E) An examination of the actual effects that such laws have had in the past on women
workers

5. The main point of the passage is that special protective labor laws for women workers are
(A) unnecessary because most workers are well protected by existing labor laws
(B) harmful to the economic interests of women workers while offering them little or no
actual protection
(C) not worth preserving even though they do represent a hard-won legacy of the labor
movement
(D) controversial because male workers receive less protection than they require
(E) inadequate in that they often do not prevent employers from exposing women workers to
145

many health hazards

6. The author implies that which of the following is characteristic of many employee health
insurance plans?
(A) They cover all the common medical conditions affecting men, but only some of those
affecting women.
(B) They lack the special provisions for women workers that proposed special labor laws for
women would provide.
(C) They pay the medical costs associated with pregnancy and childbirth only for the spouses
of male employees, not for female employees.
(D) They meet minimum legal requirements, but do not adequately safeguard the health of
either male or female employees.
(E) They have recently been improved as a result of the passage of new labor laws, but
continue to exclude coverage of certain uncommon medical conditions affecting women.

7. According to passage, special labor laws protecting women workers tend generally to have
which of the following effects?
(A) They tend to modify the stereotypes employees often hold concerning women.
(B) They increase the advantage to employers of hiring men instead of women, making it less
likely that women will be hired.
(C) They decrease the likelihood that employers will offer more protection to women workers
than that which is absolutely required by law.
(D) They increase the tendency of employers to deny health insurance and disability plans to
women workers.
(E) They have little impact of any kind on women workers, since typically very few women
are employed in those classes of jobs covered by the laws.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
50/LM1W7EDW

146
RC 51

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1868, prohibits state
governments from denying citizens the “equal protection of the laws.” Although precisely
what the framers of the amendment meant by this equal protection clause remains unclear,
all interpreters agree that the framers’ immediate objective was to provide a constitutional
warrant for the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which guaranteed the citizenship of all persons born
in the United States and subject to United States jurisdiction. This declaration, which was
echoed in the text of the Fourteenth Amendment, was designed primarily to counter the
Supreme Court’s ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Black people in the United States could
be denied citizenship. The act was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson, who argued that the
Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, did not provide Congress with the authority
to extend citizenship and equal protection to the freed slaves. Although Congress promptly
overrode Johnson’s veto, supporters of the act sought to ensure its constitutional foundations
with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The broad language of the amendment strongly suggests that its framers were proposing to
write into the Constitution not a laundry list of specific civil rights but a principle of equal
citizenship that forbids organized society from treating any individual as a member of an
inferior class. Yet for the first eight decades of the amendment’s existence, the Supreme
Court’s interpretation of the amendment betrayed this ideal of equality. In the Civil Rights
Cases of 1883, for example, the Court invented the “state action” limitation, which asserts
that “private” decisions by owners of public accommodations and other commercial
businesses to segregate their facilities are Insulated from the reach of the Fourteenth
Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law.

After the Second World War, a judicial climate more hospitable to equal protection claims
culminated in the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that racially
segregated schools violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Two
doctrines embraced by the Supreme Court during this period extended the amendment’s
reach. First, the Court required especially strict scrutiny of legislation that employed a
“suspect classification,” meaning discrimination against a group on grounds that could be
construed as racial. This doctrine has broadened the application of the Fourteenth
Amendment to other, nonracial forms of discrimination, for while some justices have refused
to find any legislative classification other than race to be constitutionally disfavored, most
have been receptive to arguments that at least some nonracial discriminations, sexual
discrimination in particular, are “suspect” and deserve this heightened scrutiny by the courts.
Second, the Court relaxed the state action limitation on the Fourteenth Amendment, bringing
new forms of private conduct within the amendment’s reach. 147
1. Which of the following best describes the main idea of the passage?
(A) By presenting a list of specific rights, framers of the Fourteenth Amendment were
attempting to provide a constitutional basis for broad judicial protection of the principle of
equal citizenship.
(B) Only after the Supreme Court adopted the suspect classification approach to reviewing
potentially discriminatory legislation was the applicability of the Fourteenth Amendment
extended to include sexual discrimination.
(C) Not until after the Second World War did the Supreme Court begin to interpret the
Fourteenth Amendment in a manner consistent with the principle of equal citizenship that it
expresses.
(D) Interpreters of the Fourteenth Amendment have yet to reach consensus with regard to
what its framers meant by the equal protection clause.
(E) Although the reluctance of judges to extend the reach of the Fourteenth Amendment to
nonracial discrimination has betrayed the principle of equal citizenship, the Supreme Court’s
use of the state action limitation to insulate private activity from the amendment’s reach has
been more harmful.

2. The passage suggests that the principal effect of the state action limitation was to
(A) allow some discriminatory practices to continue unimpeded by the Fourteenth
Amendment
(B) influence the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v, Board of Education
(C) provide expanded guidelines describing prohibited actions
(D) prohibit states from enacting laws that violated the intent of the Civil Rights Act of 1866
(E) shift to state governments the responsibility for enforcement of laws prohibiting
discriminatory practices

3. The author’s position regarding the intent of the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment
would be most seriously undermined if which of the following were true?
(A) The framers had anticipated state action limitations as they are described in the passage.
(B) The framers had merely sought to prevent discriminatory acts by federal officials.
(C) The framers were concerned that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 would be overturned by the
Supreme Court.
(D) The framers were aware that the phrase “equal protection of the laws” had broad
implications.
(E) The framers believed that racial as well as non-racial forms of discrimination were
unacceptable.

4. According to the passage, the original proponents of the Fourteenth Amendment were
primarily concerned with
(A) detailing the rights afforded by the principle of equal citizenship
(B) providing support in the Constitution for equal protection for all citizens of the United
States
(C) closing a loophole that could be used to deny individuals the right to sue for enforcement
of their civil rights
(D) asserting that civil rights protected by the Constitution included nonracial discrimination
as well as racial discrimination
(E) granting state governments broader discretion in interpreting the Civil Rights Act of 1866
148
5. The author implies that the Fourteenth Amendment might not have been enacted if
(A) Congress’ authority with regard to legislating civil rights had not been challenged
(B) the framers had anticipated the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education
(C) the framers had believed that it would be used in deciding cases of discrimination
involving non-racial groups
(D) most state governments had been willing to protect citizens’ civil rights
(E) its essential elements had not been implicit in the Thirteenth Amendment

6. According to the passage, which of the following most accurately indicates the sequence of
the events listed below?
I. Civil Rights Act of 1866 II. Dred Scott v. Sandford
III. Fourteenth Amendment IV. Veto by President Johnson
(A) I, II, III, IV (B) I, IV, II, III (C) I, IV, III, II (D) II, I, IV, III (E) III, II, I, IV

7. Which of the following can be inferred about the second of the two doctrines referred to in
the passage?
(A) It caused some justices to rule that all types of discrimination are prohibited by the
Constitution.
(B) It shifted the focus of the Supreme Court from racial to nonracial discrimination.
(C) It narrowed the concern of the Supreme Court to legislation that employed a suspect
classification.
(D) It caused legislators who were writing new legislation to reject language that could be
construed as permitting racial discrimination.
(E) It made it more difficult for commercial businesses to practice racial discrimination.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
51/KHTYUXB0

149
RC 52

Before 1965 many scientists pictured the circulation of the ocean’s water mass as consisting
of large, slow-moving currents, such as the Gulf Stream. That view, based on 100 years of
observations made around the globe, produced only a rough approximation of the true
circulation. But in the 1950’s and the 1960’s, researchers began to employ newly developed
techniques and equipment, including subsurface floats that move with ocean currents and
emit identification signals, and ocean-current meters that record data for months at fixed
locations in the ocean. These instruments disclosed an unexpected level of variability in the
deep ocean. Rather than being characterized by smooth, large-scale currents that change
seasonally (if at all), the seas are dominated by what oceanographers call mesoscale fields:
fluctuating, energetic flows whose velocity can reach ten times the mean velocity of the
major currents.

Mesoscale phenomena—the oceanic analogue of weather systems—often extend to distances

of 100 kilometers and persist for 100 days (weather systems generally extend about 1,000
kilometers and last 3 to 5 days in any given area). More than 90 percent of the kinetic energy
of the entire ocean may be accounted for by mesoscale variability rather than by large-scale
currents. Mesoscale phenomena may, in fact, play a significant role in oceanic mixing, air-sea
interactions, and occasional—but far-reaching—climatic events such as El Nino, the
atmospheric-oceanic disturbance in the equatorial Pacific that affects global weather patterns.

Unfortunately, it is not feasible to use conventional techniques to measure mesoscale fields.

To measure them properly, monitoring equipment would have to be laid out on a grid at
intervals of at most 50 kilometers, with sensors at each grid point lowered deep in the ocean
and kept there for many months. Because using these techniques would be prohibitively
expensive and time-consuming, it was proposed in 1979 that tomography be adapted to
measuring the physical properties of the ocean. In medical tomography x-rays map the
human body’s density variations (and hence internal organs); the information from the x-
rays, transmitted through the body along many different paths, is recombined to form three-
dimensional images of the body’s interior. It is primarily this multiplicative increase in data
obtained from the multipath transmission of signals that accounts for oceanographers’
attraction to tomography: it allows the measurement of vast areas with relatively few
instruments. Researchers reasoned that low-frequency sound waves, because they are so
well described mathematically and because even small perturbations in emitted sound waves
can be detected, could be transmitted through the ocean over many different paths and that
the properties of the ocean’s interior—its temperature, salinity, density, and speed of
currents— could be deduced on the basis of how the ocean altered the signals. Their initial
trials were highly successful, and ocean acoustic tomography was born. 150
1. Scientists are able to use ocean acoustic tomography to deduce the properties of the
ocean’s interior in part because
(A) low-frequency sound waves are well described mathematically
(B) mesoscale phenomena are so large as to be easily detectable
(C) information from sound waves can be recombined more easily than information from x-
rays
(D) tomography is better suited to measuring mesoscale phenomena than to measuring
small-scale systems
(E) density variations in the ocean are mathematically predictable

2. The passage suggests that medical tomography operates on the principle that
(A) x-rays are superior to sound waves for producing three-dimensional images
(B) sound waves are altered as they pass through regions of varying density
(C) images of the body’s interior can be produced by analyzing a single x-ray transmission
through the body
(D) the varying densities within the human body allow x-rays to map the internal organs
(E) information from x-rays and sound waves can be combined to produce a highly detailed
image of the body’s interior

3. Which of the following is most similar to medical tomography as it is described in the

passage?
(A) The use of ocean-current meters to determine the direction and velocity of the ocean’s
mesoscale fields
(B) The use of earthquake shockwave data collected at several different locations and
combined to create a three-dimensional image of the Earth’s interior
(C) The use of a grid-point sensory system to map global weather patterns
(D) The use of subsurface floats to map large-scale circulation in the ocean
(E) The use of computer technology to halt progress of a particular disease within the human
body’s internal organs

4. The author mentions El Nino primarily in order to emphasize which of the following points?
(A) The brief duration of weather patterns
(B) The variability of mesoscale phenomena
(C) The difficulty of measuring the ocean’s large-scale currents
(D) The effectiveness of low-frequency sound waves in mapping the ocean
(E) The possible impact of mesoscale fields on weather conditions

5. Which of the following best describes the organization of the third paragraph of the
passage?
(A) A theory is proposed, considered, and then attended.
(B) Opposing views are presented, elaborated, and then reconciled.
(C) A problem is described, then a solution is discussed and its effectiveness is affirmed.
(D) An argument is advanced, then refuted, and an alternative is suggested.
(E) A hypothesis is presented, qualified, and then reaffirmed.
151
6. Passage suggests that which of following would be true if the ocean’s circulation consisted
primarily of large, slow-moving currents?
(A) The influence of mesoscale fields on global weather patterns would remain the same.
(B) Large-scale currents would exhibit more variability than is actually observed.
(C) The majority of the ocean’s kinetic energy would be derived from mesoscale fields.
(D) Atmospheric-oceanic disturbances such as El Nino would occur more often.
(E) Conventional measuring techniques would be a feasible method of studying the physical
properties of the ocean.

7. Which of following, if presented as first sentence of a succeeding paragraph, would most

logically continue discussion presented ?
(A) Timekeeping in medical tomography must be precise because the changes in travel time
caused by density fluctuations are slight.
(B) To understand how ocean acoustic tomography works, it is necessary to know how sound
travels in the ocean.
(C) Ships are another possibility, but they would need to stop every 50 kilometers to lower
measuring instruments.
(D) These variations amount to only about 2 to 3 percent of the average speed of sound in
water, which is about 1, 500 meters per second.
(E) The device used in medical tomography emits a specially coded signal, easily
distinguishable from background noise.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
52/GFJPFWJL

152
RC 53

The defoliation of millions of acres of trees by massive infestations of gypsy moth caterpillars
is a recurring phenomenon in the northeastern United States. In studying these outbreaks,
scientists have discovered that affected trees fight back by releasing toxic chemicals, mainly
phenols, into their foliage. These noxious substances limit caterpillars’ growth and reduce the
number of eggs that female moths lay. Phenols also make the eggs smaller, which reduces
the growth of the following year’s caterpillars. Because the number of eggs a female moth
produces is directly related to her size, and because her size is determined entirely by her
feeding success as a caterpillar, the trees’ defensive mechanism has an impact on moth
fecundity.

The gypsy moth is also subject to attack by the nucleopolyhedrosis virus, or wilt disease, a
particularly important killer of the caterpillars in outbreak years. Caterpillars contract wilt
disease when they eat a leaf to which the virus, encased in a protein globule, has become
attached. Once ingested by a caterpillar, the protein globule dissolves, releasing thousands of
viruses, or virions, that after about two weeks multiply enough to fill the entire body cavity.
When the caterpillar dies, the virions are released to the outside, encased in a new protein
globule synthesized from the caterpillar’s tissues and ready to be picked up by other
caterpillars.

Knowing that phenols, including tannins, often act by associating with and altering the
activity of proteins, researchers focused on the effects on caterpillars of ingesting the virus
and leaves together. They found that on tannin-rich oak leaves, the virus is considerably less
effective at killing caterpillars than when it is on aspen leaves, which are lower in phenols. In
general, the more concentrated the phenols in tree leaves, the less deadly the virus. Thus,
while highly concentrated phenols in tree leaves reduce the caterpillar population by limiting
the size of caterpillars and, consequently, the size of the female’s egg cluster, these same
chemicals also help caterpillars survive by disabling the wilt virus. Forest stands of red oaks,
with their tannin-rich foliage, may even provide caterpillars with safe havens from disease. In
stands dominated by trees such as aspen, however, incipient gypsy moth outbreaks are
quickly suppressed by viral epidemics.

Further research has shown that caterpillars become virtually immune to the wilt virus as the
trees on which they feed respond to increasing defoliation. The trees’ own defenses raise the
threshold of caterpillar vulnerability to the disease, allowing populations to grow denser
without becoming more susceptible to infection. For these reasons, the benefits to the
caterpillars of ingesting phenols appear to outweigh the costs. Given the presence of the
virus, the trees’ defensive tactic apparently has backfired. 153
1. Which of the following statements best expresses the main point of the passage?

(A) Recurring outbreaks of infestation by gypsy moth caterpillars have had a devastating
impact on trees in northeastern United States
(B) A mechanism used by trees to combat the threat from gypsy moth caterpillars has
actually made some trees more vulnerable to that threat.
(C) Although deadly to gypsy moth caterpillars, wilt disease has failed to significantly affect
the population density of the caterpillars.
(D) The tree species with the highest levels of phenols in their foliage are the most successful
in defending themselves against gypsy moth caterpillars.
(E) In their efforts to develop new methods for controlling gypsy moth caterpillars,
researchers have focused on effects of phenols in tree leaves on insects’ growth &
reproduction.

2. The phrase “the trees’ defensive mechanism has an impact on moth fecundity” refers to
which of following phenomena?
(A) Female moths that ingest phenols are more susceptible to wilt virus, which causes them
to lay smaller eggs.
(B) Highly concentrated phenols in tree leaves limit caterpillars’ food supply, thereby reducing
the gypsy moth population.
(C) Phenols attack the protein globule that protects moth egg clusters, making them
vulnerable to wilt virus and lowering their survival rate.
(D) Phenols in oak leaves drive gypsy moths into forest stands dominated by aspens, where
they succumb to viral epidemics.
(E) The consumption of phenols by caterpillars results in undersized female gypsy moths,
which tend to produce small egg clusters.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that wilt disease virions depend for their survival on

(A) protein synthesized from the tissues of a host caterpillar

(B) aspen leaves with high concentrations of phenols
(C) tannin-rich oak leaves
(D) nutrients that they synthesize from gypsy moth egg clusters
(E) a rising threshold of caterpillar vulnerability to wilt disease

4. Which of the following, if true, would most clearly demonstrate the operation of the trees’
defensive mechanism as it is described in the first paragraph of the passage?
(A) Caterpillars feeding on red oaks that were more than 50 percent defoliated grew to be
only two-thirds the size of those feeding on trees with relatively intact foliage.
(B) Oak leaves in areas unaffected by gypsy moths were found to have higher levels of tannin
on average than aspen leaves in areas infested with gypsy moths.
(C) The survival rate of gypsy moth caterpillars exposed to the wilt virus was 40 percent
higher for those that fed on aspen leaves than for those that ate oak leaves.
(D) Female gypsy moths produced an average of 25 percent fewer eggs in areas where the
wilt virus flourished than did moths in areas that were free of the virus.
(E) Gypsy moth egg clusters deposited on oak trees were found to have relatively large
individual eggs compared to those deposited on aspen trees.
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5. Which of the following best describes the function of the third paragraph of the passage?
(A) It resolves a contradiction between the ideas presented in the first and second
paragraphs.
(B) It introduces research data to support the theory outlined in the second paragraph.
(C) It draws a conclusion from conflicting evidence presented in the first two paragraphs.
(D) It shows how phenomena described in the first and second paragraphs act in
combination.
(E) It elaborates on the thesis introduced in the first paragraph after a digression in the
second paragraph.

6. It can be inferred from the passage that gypsy moth caterpillars become immune to the
wilt virus as a result of
(A) consuming a wide range of nutrients from a variety of leaf types
(B) feeding on leaves that contain high levels of phenols
(C) producing fewer offspring, which favors the survival of the hardiest individuals
(D) ingesting the virus together with leaves that do not contain tannin
(E) growing population density, which outstrips the ability of the virus to multiply and spread

7. Which of following statements about gypsy moth caterpillars is supported by information

presented in the passage?
(A) Wilt disease is more likely to strike small gypsy moth caterpillars than large ones.
(B) The concentration of phenols in tree leaves increases as the gypsy moth caterpillar
population dies off.
(C) Female gypsy moth caterpillars stop growing after they ingest leaves containing phenols.
(D) Differing concentrations of phenols in leaves have differing effects on the ability of the
wilt virus to kill gypsy moth caterpillars.
(E) The longer a gypsy moth population is exposed to wilt disease, the greater the likelihood
that the gypsy moth caterpillars will become immune to the virus.

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/rc-practice-for-cat-2024/3VZFJP1J

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RC 54

Many objects in daily use have clearly been influenced by science, but their form and
function, their dimensions and appearance, were determined by technologists, artisans,
designers, inventors, and engineers—using non-scientific modes of thought. Many features
and qualities of the objects that a technologist thinks about cannot be reduced to
unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in the mind by a visual, nonverbal
process. In the development of Western technology, it has been non-verbal thinking, by and
large, that has fixed the outlines and filled in the details of our material surroundings.
Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets exist not because of geometry or thermodynamics, but
because they were first a picture in the minds of those who built them.

The creative shaping process of a technologist’s mind can be seen in nearly every artifact that
exists. For example, in designing a diesel engine, a technologist might impress individual
ways of nonverbal thinking on the machine by continually using an intuitive sense of
rightness and fitness. What would be the shape of the combustion chamber? Where should
the valves be placed? Should it have a long or short piston? Such questions have a range of
answers that are supplied by experience, by physical requirements, by limitations of available
space, and not least by a sense of form. Some decisions, such as wall thickness and pin
diameter, may depend on scientific calculations, but the nonscientific component of design
remains primary.

Design courses, then, should be an essential element in engineering curricula. Nonverbal

thinking, a central mechanism in engineering design, involves perceptions, the stock-in-trade
of the artist, not the scientist. Because perceptive processes are not assumed to entail “hard
thinking,” nonverbal thought is sometimes seen as a primitive stage in the development of
cognitive processes and inferior to verbal or mathematical thought. But it is paradoxical that
when the staff of the Historic American Engineering Record wished to have drawings made of
machines and isometric views of industrial processes for its historical record of American
engineering, the only college students with the requisite abilities were not engineering
students, but rather students attending architectural schools.

If courses in design, which in a strongly analytical engineering curriculum provide the

background required for practical problem-solving, are not provided, we can expect to
encounter silly but costly errors occurring in advanced engineering systems. For example,
early models of high-speed railroad cars loaded with sophisticated controls were unable to
operate in a snowstorm because a fan sucked snow into the electrical system. Absurd random
failures that plague automatic control systems are not merely trivial aberrations; they are a
reflection of the chaos that results when design is assumed to be primarily a problem in
mathematics.
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1. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with
(A) identifying the kinds of thinking that are used by technologists
(B) stressing the importance of nonverbal thinking in engineering design
(C) proposing a new role for nonscientific thinking in the development of technology
(D) contrasting the goals of engineers with those of technologists
(E) criticizing engineering schools for emphasizing science in engineering curricula

2. It can be inferred that the author thinks engineering curricula are

(A) strengthened when they include courses in design
(B) weakened by the substitution of physical science courses for courses designed to develop
mathematical skills
(C) strong because nonverbal thinking is still emphasized by most of the courses
(D) strong despite errors that graduates of such curricula have made in development of
automatic control systems
(E) strong despite the absence of nonscientific modes of thinking

3. Which of the following statements best illustrates the main point of lines 1-28 of the
passage?
(A) When a machine like a rotary engine malfunctions, it is the technologist who is best
equipped to repair it.
(B) Each component of an automobile—for example, the engine or the fuel tank—has a shape
that has been scientifically determined to be best suited to that component’s function.
(C) A telephone is a complex instrument designed by technologists using only nonverbal
thought.
(D) The designer of a new refrigerator should consider designs of other refrigerators before
deciding on its final form.
(E) The distinctive features of a suspension bridge reflect its designer’s conceptualization as
well as the physical requirements of its site.

4. Which of the following statements would best serve as an introduction to the passage?
(A) The assumption that the knowledge incorporated in technological developments must be
derived from science ignores the many non-scientific decisions made by technologists.
(B) Analytical thought is no longer a vital component in the success of technological
development.
(C) As knowledge of technology has increased, the tendency has been to lose sight of the
important role played by scientific thought in making decisions about form, arrangement, and
texture.
(D) A movement in engineering colleges toward a technician’s degree reflects a demand for
graduates who have the nonverbal reasoning ability that was once common among
engineers.
(E) A technologist thinking about a machine, reasoning through the successive steps in a
dynamic process, can actually turn the machine over mentally.

5. The author calls the predicament faced by the Historic American Engineering
Record “paradoxical” most probably because
(A) the publication needed drawings that its own staff could not make
(B) architectural schools offered but did not require engineering design courses for their
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students
(C) college students were qualified to make the drawings while practicing engineers were not
(D) the drawings needed were so complicated that even students in architectural schools had
difficulty making them
(E) engineering students were not trained to make the type of drawings needed to record the
development of their own discipline

6. According to passage, random failures in automatic control systems are “not merely trivial
aberrations” (lines 53) because
(A) automatic control systems are designed by engineers who have little practical experience
in the field
(B) the failures are characteristic of systems designed by engineers relying too heavily on
concepts in mathematics
(C) the failures occur too often to be taken lightly
(D) designers of automatic control systems have too little training in the analysis of
mechanical difficulties
(E) designers of automatic control systems need more help from scientists who have a better
understanding of the analytical problems to be solved before such systems can work
efficiently

7. The author uses the example of the early models of high-speed railroad cars primarily to
(A) weaken the argument that modern engineering systems have major defects because of
an absence of design courses in engineering curricula
(B) support the thesis that the number of errors in modern engineering systems is likely to
increase
(C) illustrate the idea that courses in design are the most effective means for reducing the
cost of designing engineering systems
(D) support the contention that a lack of attention to nonscientific aspects of design results in
poor conceptualization by engineers
(E) weaken the proposition that mathematics is a necessary part of the study of design

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
54/7LXT1RDH

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RC 55

It is possible for students to obtain advanced degrees in English while knowing little or
nothing about traditional scholarly methods. The consequences of this neglect of traditional
scholarship are particularly unfortunate for the study of women writers. If the canon—the list
of authors whose works are most widely taught—is ever to include more women, scholars
must be well trained in historical scholarship and textual editing. Scholars who do not know
how to read early manuscripts, locate rare books, establish a sequence of editions, & so on
are bereft of crucial tools for revising the canon.

To address such concerns, an experimental version of the traditional scholarly methods

course was designed to raise students’ consciousness about the usefulness of traditional
learning for any modern critic or theorist. To minimize the artificial aspects of the
conventional course, the usual procedure of assigning a large number of small problems
drawn from the entire range of historical periods was abandoned, though this procedure has
the obvious advantage of at least superficially familiarizing students with a wide range of
reference sources. Instead students were engaged in a collective effort to do original work on
a neglected eighteenth-century writer, Elizabeth Griffith, to give them an authentic
experience of literary scholarship and to inspire them to take responsibility for the quality of
their own work.

Griffith’s work presented a number of advantages for this particular pedagogical purpose.
First, the body of extant scholarship on Griffith was so tiny that it could all be read in a day;
thus students spent little time and effort mastering the literature and had a clear field for
their own discoveries. Griffith’s play The Platonic Wife exists in three versions, enough to
provide illustrations of editorial issues but not too many for beginning students to manage. In
addition, because Griffith was successful in the eighteenth century, as her continued
productivity and favorable reviews demonstrate, her exclusion from the canon and virtual
disappearance from literary history also helped raise issues concerning the current canon.

The range of Griffith’s work meant that each student could become the world’s leading
authority on a particular Griffith text. For example, a student studying Griffith’s Wife in the
Right obtained a first edition of the play and studied it for some weeks. This student was
suitably shocked and outraged to find its title transformed into A Wife in the Night in Watt’s
Bibliotheca Britannica. Such experiences, inevitable and common in working on a writer to
whom so little attention has been paid, serve to vaccinate the student—I hope for a lifetime—
against credulous use of reference sources.

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1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
(A) revealing a commonly ignored deficiency
(B) proposing a return to traditional terminology
(C) describing an attempt to correct a shortcoming
(D) assessing the success of a new pedagogical approach
(E) predicting a change in a traditional teaching strategy

2. It can be inferred that the author expects that the experience of the student mentioned as
having studied Wife in the Right would have which of the following effects?
(A) It would lead the student to disregard information found in the Bibliotheca Britannica.
(B) It would teach student to question the accuracy of certain kinds of information sources
when studying neglected authors.
(C) It would teach the student to avoid the use of reference sources in studying neglected
authors.
(D) It would help the student to understand the importance of first editions in establishing the
authorship of plays.
(E) It would enhance the student’s appreciation of the works of authors not included in the
canon.

3. The author suggests that which of following is a disadvantage of the strategy employed in
experimental scholarly methods course?
(A) Students were not given an opportunity to study women writers outside the canon.
(B) Students’ original work would not be appreciated by recognized scholars.
(C) Little scholarly work has been done on the work of Elizabeth Griffith.
(D) Most of the students in the course had had little opportunity to study eighteenth-century
literature.
(E) Students were not given an opportunity to encounter certain sources of information that
could prove useful in their future studies.

4. Which of the following best states the “particular pedagogical purpose” mentioned in line
28?
(A) To assist scholars in revising the canon of authors
(B) To minimize the trivial aspects of the traditional scholarly methods course
(C) To provide students with information about Griffith’s work
(D) To encourage scholarly rigor in students’ own research
(E) To reestablish Griffith’s reputation as an author

5. Which of the following best describes the function of the last paragraph in relation to the
passage as a whole?
(A) It summarizes the benefits that students can derive from the experimental scholarly
methods course.
(B) It provides additional reasons why Griffith’s work raises issues having to do with the
canon of authors.
(C) It provides an illustration of the immediate nature of the experiences students can derive
from the experimental scholarly methods course.
(D) It contrasts the experience of a student in the experimental scholarly methods course
with the experience of a student in the traditional course.
160

(E) It provides information that emphasizes the suitability of Griffith’s work for inclusion in
the canon of authors.
6. It can be inferred that which of the following is most likely to be among the “issues”
mentioned in the last line of the 3rd para?
(A) Why has the work of Griffith, a woman writer who was popular in her own century, been
excluded from the canon?
(B) In what ways did Griffith’s work reflect the political climate of the eighteenth century?
(C) How was Griffith’s work received by literary critics during the eighteenth century?
(D) How did the error in the title of Griffith’s play come to be made?
(E) How did critical reception of Griffith’s work affect the quantity and quality of that work?

7. It can be inferred that the author of the passage considers traditional scholarly methods
courses to be
(A) irrelevant to the work of most students
(B) inconsequential because of their narrow focus
(C) unconcerned about the accuracy of reference sources
(D) too superficial to establish important facts about authors
(E) too wide-ranging to approximate genuine scholarly activity

Link: https://unacademy.com/class/cat-24-l-reading-comprehension-practice-
58/LZYOJW7Q

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